This is super important (and reminds me that I still haven't seen Southern Comfort -- you can actually watch the whole movie on YouTube here.)
But also: I'm a little worried that using Robert Eads Day to talk about HPV and Pap smears may mislead people about ovarian cancer, which is what actually killed Robert Eads. So, a few quick facts (ha, whenever I say this it never ends up being quick):
- Pap smears can detect cervical cancer, but they don't detect ovarian cancer (or any other kind of cancer). Ovarian cancer is not strongly linked to HPV the way that cervical cancer is, and it isn't prevented by the HPV vaccine.
- Ovarian cancer is about twice as common as cervical cancer and causes three times more deaths. Because the symptoms are often vague or nonexistent and there isn't a good screening test, it's notoriously difficult to detect early.
- Ovarian cancer generally appears at a later age than cervical cancer. However, a) we should all know how to take care of our health as we age, and b) there is virtually no research into how long-term testosterone use affects the risk of ovarian cancer for trans men and other FAAB trans folks. A few studies have found that cis women who take androgens or drugs that increase androgen levels have a higher risk of ovarian cancer. In addition, Nick Gorton's awesome book Medical Therapy and Health Maintenance for Transgender Men is a little out of date at this point, but he notes that of the few published cases of trans men with ovarian cancer, all were younger than the median age of ovarian cancer development for cis women, and none had a family history of ovarian cancer.
- The most common signs and symptoms of ovarian cancer are pelvic pain, bloating, feeling full quickly while eating, and needing to urinate more frequently. Yep, these symptoms are annoyingly vague and are linked to tons of other health conditions! If you have any of these symptoms persistently, it's a good idea to see a doctor.
- People have increased risk of ovarian cancer if they have endometriosis or PCOS, or if they have never given birth or used birth control pills. Anecdotally I'd guess that all of these factors are more common among trans men and other FAAB trans folks, although as with almost every area of trans health, it's hard to find data!
- People with close relatives who have had ovarian cancer may want to look into getting tested for BRCA1 and BRCA2 (genes associated with ovarian cancer and breast cancer) and/or HNPCC (associated with ovarian cancer and colorectal cancer). Not only are these good things to know about our health, but they can also help persuade an insurance company to cover a hysto with oophorectomy (removal of ovaries).
The CDC, the American Cancer Society, and MNOCA all have good information about ovarian cancer, although the text is very gendered. I'm happy to pull out info for people who have questions but don't want to wade through those pages.