I had Law and Order on as background noise earlier tonight when my ears suddenly perked up at the mention of HPV - the virus that causes cervical cancer, throat cancer, and other diseases in both women and men. I looked up to see that Lt. Anita Van Buren's doctor was telling her that she had stage 2 cervical cancer.
The lieutenant had gone to see her doctor because she had a new partner and was having pain during intercourse. Her doctor told her that the infection was not from her new boyfriend, and the lieutenant was shocked because she hadn't had sex with anyone since she left her ex-husband 5 years earlier. The doctor confirmed that it was quite likely that the infection was at least that old and Lg. Van Buren responded:
"I can't believe he left me with this. I just met the most wonderful man. Oh god. What's the point."
The doctor tells her that pain during intercourse is often the first sign people have that they have cervical cancer, and then says:
"If it weren't for meeting this wonderful man, you wouldn't know you had it until it was too late."
It's a nice thought, but there's one really obvious thing that she seems to have overlooked... As the Lieutenant's doctor, shouldn't she have been making certain she had regular cervical cancer screenings?
What the episode got right:
- Pain during intercourse is often an early symptom of cervical cancer.
- Most cervical cancers are caused by HPV.
- HPV is sexually transmitted, and it can lie dormant for years before causing cancer.
What the episode got wrong:
- Even if the HPV vaccine had been available 5 years earlier, Lt. Van Buren probably would not have been able to get it. As of the time the episode aired Gardasil still wasn't recommended for women over the age of 26.
- The doctor didn't discuss why Lt. Van Buren hadn't been getting yearly pap smears, which could have caught her cancer at an earlier stage.
