{"id":99742,"date":"2025-10-22T11:36:55","date_gmt":"2025-10-22T11:36:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=99742"},"modified":"2025-10-22T11:36:55","modified_gmt":"2025-10-22T11:36:55","slug":"joy-cancer-awareness-month-abnormal-vaginal-bleeding-may-signal-cervical-cancer-gynaecologist-warns","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=99742","title":{"rendered":"Joy Cancer Awareness Month: Abnormal vaginal bleeding may signal cervical cancer \u2013 Gynaecologist warns"},"content":{"rendered":"
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As part of Joy FM\u2019s Cancer Awareness Month campaign, Obstetrician-Gynecologist Professor Samuel Antwi Oppong has urged women to take any form of abnormal vaginal bleeding seriously, warning that it is often the first and most common early sign of cervical cancer.<\/p>\n

Speaking on the Super Morning Show<\/strong> on Wednesday, October 22, Prof Oppong explained that cervical cancer, which affects the cervix, the lower part of the womb, remains one of the leading causes of cancer-related deaths among women in Ghana.<\/p>\n

He said the disease often develops quietly, with little or no symptoms in its early stages, making subtle changes like unexpected bleeding a crucial warning sign.<\/p>\n

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\u201cMost cervical cancers at the very early stages will not show any symptoms or signs at all. However, when it comes to symptoms related to cervical cancer, the commonest tend to be abnormal vaginal bleeding.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Prof Oppong described abnormal bleeding as any bleeding that occurs outside a woman\u2019s normal menstrual cycle, particularly after sexual intercourse or after menopause.<\/p>\n

\u201cBleeding after sexual intercourse tends to be the first sign. Because of the location of the cervix, during intercourse, the penis can make contact with it, and if there\u2019s an ulceration caused by cancer, it can easily provoke bleeding.\u201d<\/p>\n

He added that in more advanced cases, bleeding may occur spontaneously, even without any contact. \u201cA woman may have finished her period and expect to be dry, but she may notice some bleeding again. Sometimes, a woman who has already reached menopause and is not supposed to bleed begins to see blood. That is never normal,\u201d he warned.<\/p>\n

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\u201cEvery woman who reaches menopause and after that begins to see any amount of bleeding, it doesn\u2019t matter how small, must get checked as quickly as possible.\u201d <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

He explained that while not all post-menopausal bleeding is caused by cervical cancer, it always requires medical investigation. \u201cIt may not be cancer, but it\u2019s a sign that something is wrong, and it needs to be checked,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Prof Oppong revealed that about 80% of cervical cancer cases are caused by the Human Papillomavirus (HPV) a sexually transmitted infection.<\/p>\n

\u201cUnlike several other cancers where we may not know the cause, for cervical cancer we know that at least 80% are caused by infection and persistent infection by this organism we call the human papilloma virus,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

He clarified that the virus spreads only through sexual contact, not through blood or casual physical touch. \u201cIt is transmitted only through sexual contact with the genital areas and the mouth,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Although HPV can infect men as well, he explained that men do not develop cervical cancer. \u201cMen don\u2019t have a cervix, so they will not suffer from cervical cancer. But this same virus can cause throat and penile cancer in men,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

According to Prof Oppong, women who start sexual activity at a young age, have multiple sexual partners, or have a weakened immune system are at higher risk.<\/p>\n

He noted that people living with HIV, those receiving cancer treatments, or using long-term steroids are more vulnerable to persistent HPV infections.<\/p>\n

\u201cSmoking also increases the virus\u2019s ability to cause cancer within the cervix,\u201d he added, explaining that chemicals in tobacco can promote the infection\u2019s persistence.<\/p>\n

Prof Oppong said that early screening is the most effective way to prevent cervical cancer. \u201cBetween the time a woman acquires HPV infection and when she develops the first sign of cervical cancer could take 10 to 15 years,\u201d he said. \u201cThat gives us enough time to detect and treat it before it becomes dangerous.\u201d<\/p>\n

He explained that simple and affordable screening tests exist, including Visual Inspection with Acetic Acid (VIA), which uses vinegar to detect changes on the cervix, and the Pap smear, which checks for abnormal cells.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese minor abnormalities, which are still precancerous, can be treated easily and cured so that they don\u2019t progress to cancer,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Prof Oppong encouraged women to overcome fear or embarrassment and make cervical screening part of their routine health checks.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt may feel a bit uncomfortable, but compare that to the risk of developing cervical cancer and going through very expensive and troubling treatments, it is worth the effort,\u201d he urged.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\"JoyAs part of Joy FM\u2019s Cancer Awareness Month campaign, Obstetrician-Gynecologist Professor Samuel Antwi Oppong has urged women to take any form of abnormal vaginal bleeding seriously, warning that it is often the first and most common early sign of cervical cancer.<\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":{"facebook_2277560469115098_106292521332774":"","twitter_aToxNzczMzI3Njk4OTg4ODUxMjAxOw==_1773327698988851200":""},"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[10166,11000,9106,7,1883,10,9,11001],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-99742","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-joy-cancer-awareness-month","category-abnormal-vaginal-bleeding","category-cervical-cancer","category-health","category-national","category-politics","category-popular","category-professor-samuel-antwi-oppong"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/99742","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=99742"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/99742\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=99742"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=99742"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=99742"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}