Cand.med Elena Evgenievna Roik disputerer for ph.d.-graden i helsevitenskap og vil offentlig forsvare avhandlingen:
“Epidemiology of cervical cancer and high risk of HPV infection with a focus on Arkhangelsk City and County, Northwest Russia”
Kort sammendrag av avhandlingen:
Human papillomavirus (HPV) is one of the most common sexually transmitted infections worldwide. It is also known as an important risk factor for cervical cancer.
Generally speaking, finding any cancer at an early stage is often believed to be the most important factor for longer survival. However, age at diagnosis, residence (i.e., accessibility to health care) and cell type of the tumor (less or more aggressive) are also important. In the research described, we wanted to find out whether there was a difference in the social and clinical characteristics of the patients with cervical cancer diagnosed with and without screening. We were curious if the risk factors associated with longer survival between these two groups were different. We were also interested whether knowledge about cervical cancer risk factors can motivate women to participate in screening or prevent them from being HPV positive.
Arkhangelsk region is an important area of study because it has high annual cancer rates. It has implemented the Arkhangelsk Cancer Registry (ACR), which includes all cases of cancer in the region.
Our findings indicate that women with cervical cancer diagnosed by screening were mostly older, had less aggressive tumor cell types, were in the earlier stages of the disease, and died less frequently from it. Moreover, diagnosis made within the screening program decreased the risk of death from cervical cancer. The importance of cervical cancer screening is affirmed by our research and wider use of it in the Arkhangelsk region is encouraged.
Our study also demonstrates that majority of women in Arkhangelsk had sufficient level of knowledge about HPV and CC prevention.
We have established that women with positive HPV status differed from the HPV negative group by age, marital status, parity, age at sexual debut, number of sexual partners and cigarette smoking. Women with early age at sexual debut and those nulliparous had a higher risk of having a positive HR-HPV status.
Veiledere
Hovedveileder professor II Jon Øyvind Odland
Biveileder Professor emeritus Babill Stray-Pedersen
Bedømmelseskomiteen
Professor Sonia Andersson, Karolinska Insitutet, Stockholm, Sverige– 1. opponent
Professor Kate Cushieri, The University of Edinburg, Skottland – 2. opponent
Førsteamanuensis Einar Borud, Institutt for samfunnsmedisin, Det helsevitenskapelige fakultet, UiT Norges arktiske universitet – leder av komité
Disputasleder
Førsteamanuensis Tormod Brenn, institutt for samfunnsmedisin, Det helsevitenskapelige fakultet, Universitetet i Tromsø – Norges arktiske universitet
Prøveforelesning over oppgitt emne holdes kl. 10.15, samme sted: “The challenges of cervical cancer screening and vaccination against HPV in Russia and priorities for development”