NEWS
By Frederick N. Rasmussen | fred.rasmussen@baltsun.com | December 6, 2009
E dward Akira Sawada, an obstetrician and gynecologist who was a noted cervical cancer expert, died Nov. 28 at Manor Care Dulaney nursing home in Towson of injuries suffered two years ago in an automobile accident. The longtime Towson resident was 89. Dr. Sawada, the son of Japanese parents, was born and raised on Guam. He had settled on pursuing a medical career as a youngster, and after graduating from Guam Institute High School, left the island in 1941 to attend Georgetown University and its medical school.
NEWS
By Elisabeth Rosenthal and Elisabeth Rosenthal,New York Times News Service | October 18, 1990
Cigarette smoking has emerged as a powerful influence in the development of cervical cancer and of distorted cells that are precursors of malignancy, researchers say.These distorted cells, which can be detected in Pap tests, frequently evolve into a serious cancer if left untreated.In a new study at the Montefiore Medical Center in New York, of 60 women who had advanced cervical cancer, 85 percent were smokers. There also was evidence to suggest that the remainder had significant exposure to passive smoking, generally through spouses who smoked.
FEATURES
By Dr. Genevieve Matanoski and Dr. Genevieve Matanoski,Contributing Writer | May 18, 1993
Some years ago I was involved in persuading the Maryland General Assembly to pass a law requiring that all women admitted to a hospital be offered a Pap test to screen for cervical cancer. We thought we had made a significant contribution to cervical cancer prevention. But the number of cervical cancer deaths in Maryland is still high. Of the 4,000 women in the United States who will die of cervical cancer this year, about 77 will be from Maryland. Ann Klassen, a researcher at the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health, and Dr. Neil Rosenshein, associate professor of gynecology and obstetrics at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, have been looking at this problem, and I recently asked them about it.Q: Who is at risk for cervical cancer?
FEATURES
By Dr. Simeon Margolis and Dr. Simeon Margolis,SPECIAL TO THE SUN | June 25, 1996
Since it seems that more and more types of cancer can be inherited, I would like to know if a recent diagnosis of cervical cancer in my mother increases my own risk for this form of cancer.To date, there is no evidence that inherited genes play a significant role in the development of cancer of the cervix, the narrow lower portion of the uterus. Much evidence points to infection with certain human papilloma viruses as a cause, since they are detected in more than 90 percent of cervical cancers.
NEWS
By Mary Knudson and Mary Knudson,Sun Staff Correspondent | October 5, 1991
ROCKVILLE -- A small company hoping to market a do-it-yourself Pap test kit to detect cervical cancer saw its hopes dashed yesterday by a panel of the Food and Drug Administration, although panelists applauded the applicant's goal of reaching disadvantaged women.The Obstetrics-Gynecology Devices Panel voted 4-2 to recommend FDA disapproval of a plastic tubular device called My-Pap, which drew controversial testimony from the lay public and the medical profession.Panelists said that Medtech Inc. of Bohemia, N.Y., did not prove that its test would be used by the target group of women and also questioned whether the results would give users a false sense of security.
FEATURES
By Susan Reimer and Susan Reimer,Sun Columnist | March 13, 2007
It is hard for me to believe that medical science has given us the great gift of a vaccination against cancer and we are arguing about whether our daughters should receive it. But that is exactly what is happening with Gardasil, found to protect against the human papillomavirus that is responsible for 70 percent of all cervical cancers. HPV is a sexually transmitted disease that also may cause genital warts. A woman's immune system can often defeat it in a couple of weeks, but the virus can also insinuate itself into cervical cells where it can cause malignancy years later.