Oh my Goodness....poor Jade Goody :-(

[SobranieCocktail]

Her cancer has spread.

God, poor woman and her children. Prompted me to book my next smear.

Bloody hell. I know it's happening all over but this really brings it home somehow.

Such a shame

God, poor woman

I had cervical cancer, treated in the early stages with surgery. That was tough enough. God knows what she must be going through. She's so young.

It reallt brings your own mortality home to you. Her children are so young - she must be in peices

Poor Jade

oh goodness how awful

She's only 27; her children 5 & 4

Poor girl
She has had such a sad life

How awful.
EyeballsintheSky - It's true, it is happening all the time to 'everyday' people but seeing it like this really does bring it home.

poor poor thing, i really admire her. people are knocking her for being in the press about this but she's doing exactly the right thing, she's making sure that by doing these interviews she will have enough money to ensure her kids are cared for. she's an inspiration.

Poor, poor woman.
Sadly this is reality for many more than just Jade.

That's what I was trying to say, VS, that it happens all the time to so many people but we never hear about it so it's easy to forget or pretend it isn't there When someone who is so recognisable is in the press it reminds you ...

How terribly sad.

It is very sad, and as parents I think we'll all feel for her.

Can I ask if anyone knows whether this is a result of her ignoring iffy smear test results etc (as she's admitted she did), and if she'd sought treatment earlier she'd have more than likely been ok, or whether she's one of the unlucky ones who never stood a chance?

Before anyone jumps on me I'm not looking for a reason to say this is her own fault, I remember reading the thread when she was first diagnosed and being pretty shocked at some people's comments. Perhaps I'm just trying to reassure myself that if I go for smears regularly the chances of it happening to me are lower.

Tricky question, and hard to know. But at 27, to have that advanced a cervical cancer, it's possible that her cancer is a very fast moving one that could have developed between smears. And unfortunatly she fits into the category of women most likely to have an aggressive, early cancer.

It's really sad, but I hope that some young women will go and get treatment as a result

oh god thats terrible she is so young

I had read too that the cancer was missed.

Having not given birth in the UK I don't know what happens about smears but I had DS in Ireland and my doc did a smear at my six-week check up I think. I am almost sure anyway.

Note to self - make appointment for one now.

What is the "the category of women most likely to have an aggressive, early cancer" that Jade Goody fits into? I'm curious.

Cervical cancer is caused by HPV and it progresses very slowly. If you have a smear test once a year, you can't possibly miss its progression from zero to CIN I, CIN II, CIN III, and Cancer-in-situ (just like a mole, easily treatable), which take at least a year between each stage.

This also means early onset is very normal - if you get infected with a carcinogen type of HPV during your first sexual intercourse at 13, for example, and never have a smear, you can easily have cervical cancer at age 20.

I'm not saying this to blame Jade Goody but to reassure others on this thread - Do your smears regularly and you will be fine.

poor girl.

I was booked for a very overdue smear six months after having dd last year. I never got a 6 week check and no one mentioned it again. So I conveniently forgot to chase it up. This has put a bomb under me, that's for sure.

Actually, it doesn't always take a year between progressions - I have seen women who had a clear smear a year earlier (and was reviewed to check) and a T3 tumour.

There is certainly anecdotal evidence that women who have multiple early partners (and so are infected with several strains of HPV perhaps) and who smoke from an early age (toxins are concentrated 1500 times in the cervical mucosa) get fast moving tumours, and there are some clusters of this too.

But I don't know the circumstances of Jades tumour, and even if it was a squamous cell carcinoma, and not another more unusual type.

But smear tests in the UK have reduced invasive cervical cancer rates by 90% - and so going for smears and stopping smoking (if you needed to be nagged again) is the no1 best thing you can do

I asked my previous practice if I could have a smear test on more than one occasion.
Every time I was told, 'No, we don't do them until you're 25'. I had two children by 24 FGS! How sexually active did I need to be?

I finally got a smear just after I turned 26. I had to have a LEEP as I had CIN III cells. I was lucky that it was caught in time. Jade is only 27. This could so easily have been me, through no fault of my own.

Smear tests should be available much earlier.