The website for the Canadian Cancer Society features an entry providing advice to transgender women on getting a screening for cervical cancer.

The Canadian medical institution noted that trans women who have had “bottom surgery to create a vagina and possibly a cervix” in accordance with their gender identity might have a “small risk” of cancer in those tissues and could benefit from a cervical cancer screening in such circumstances.

The entry was found on the Canadian Cancer Society’s website under the topic “Screening in LGBTQ communities.” It provided an answer to the question, “As a trans woman, do I need to get screened for cervical cancer?”

The website began: “If you’re a trans woman, you may not have given much thought to Pap tests and cervical cancer. And if you haven’t, that makes a fair amount of sense. After all, in order to get cervical cancer, you need to have a cervix — that is, the organ that connects the vagina to the uterus.”

The website did note, though, that trans women who get “bottom surgery” resulting in a vagina and cervix could develop cancer. It said, “If, however, you’re a trans woman who has had bottom surgery to create a vagina (vaginoplasty) and possibly a cervix, there’s a very small risk that you can develop cancer in the tissues of your neo-vagina or neo-cervix.”

It added, “The risk depends on the type of surgery you had, the type of tissue used to create your vagina and cervix and your personal health history. Talk to your healthcare provider to figure out your specific cancer-screening needs as part of your overall pelvic health following surgery.”

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