Grier's Lifetime of Work
- Pam Grier, 71, is a Hollywood icon; her career has spanned five decades and in 1988 she was diagnosed with cervical cancer.
- Cervical cancer can be caused by Human Papillomavirus (HPV); other risk factors, such as smoking, may lead to this disease.
- Cervical cancer can be treated with surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation therapy.
Grier’s a cinematic legend, who is also a fighter. In 1988, the actress was given just 18 months to live after being diagnosed with cervical cancer; she clearly wasn’t going to let that stop her! Now, she’s getting older and enjoying the process and we so admire that. In an NBC interview earlier this year, Grier said, “If you wake up breathing you’re going to have a good day. I don’t worry about age.”
Causes of Cervical Cancer
Cervical cancer is detected by a pap smear. Human papillomavirus (HPV) is one of the main causes of cervical cancer. (HPV is also a leading cause of throat cancer.)
Related: A Major New Effort Announced to Vaccinate Young Boys Against HPV and Cancers Linked to Sex
Dr. Allen Ho, Director of the Head and Neck Program at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, tells SurvivorNet, "The vast majority of humans in the U.S., both men, and women, will eventually get infected with human papillomavirus. The important thing to know about HPV,” says Dr. Ho, “is that there are many different strains, and only a couple of them tend to be more cancer-inducing. Probably less than 1% of the population who get infected happen to have the cancer-causing virus that somehow their immune system fails to clear, and over 15 to 20 years [it] develops from a viral infection into a tumor, and a cancer."
Related: New Cervical Cancer Screening Guidelines Recommend HPV & Pap Testing Now Start at Age 25
HPV is not the only cause of cervical cancer, and most women with HPV don’t get cervical cancer, according to the American Cancer Society (ACS). Risk factors like smoking and HIV infection may impact how likely a woman with HPV is to develop cervical cancer. Other risk factors may include a person’s sexual history, a weakened immune system, a Chlamydia infection, as well as long-term use of oral contraceptives, economic status, and a diet that lacks fruits and vegetables. Additionally, women who were under 20 when giving birth have an increased risk for the disease.
HPV and Cancer Risk: The Basics
Cervical Cancer Treatments
Following an “aggressive treatment” plan, Grier went into remission after her 1988 cervical cancer diagnosis. While we don’t know much about her specific treatment path, we do know that there are some primary methods used to treat cervical cancer, and they include surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation therapy.
Treatment paths may vary depending on whether or not a woman wants to maintain her fertility. A cone biopsy, says the American Cancer Society (ACS), is the preferred procedure for women who want to have children after their cancer is treated. Whereas if a woman doesn’t want to have children, a simple hysterectomy the surgical removal of the uterus is an option, if the cancer shows no lymphovascular invasion (meaning, the presence of cancer cells in lymphatics or blood vessels) and the edges of the biopsy have no cancer cells, says the ACS.
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