Dr Mitchell Clark Interview on WBLQ - 12-28-2020

January 04, 2021

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00:00Moving County like it never even happened.
00:02Ann Larry and I'm going to
00:04tell you this quick story.
00:05Then you can get to the Westerly
00:08hospital we met years ago at Hilltop
00:10Cafe and he had said to me Chris,
00:12can I advertise on the radio
00:14and we made a heck of a deal.
00:16But more than the advertisement we
00:18became very good friends and that
00:20was back in 1998 and here we are.
00:2222 years later Larry,
00:23I feel like you and I are family
00:26and happy birthday to you my friend.
00:28I know he's over 21 yesterday.
00:30So happy birthday to Larry Vitalino.
00:32Now Frank it's all yours OK
00:33and welcome to the morning show.
00:35It is 746 in the morning and Zach
00:38the temperature on your device.
00:403232 degrees as it is here joining us
00:43this morning is Doctor Mitchell Clark.
00:46Doctor Clark is a gynecologist oncologist.
00:48At I'm going to miss pronounce this,
00:51I'm sure Smilow cancer hospital
00:53and assistant professor.
00:54It is correct.
00:56How about that?
00:57An assistant professor of obstetrics,
00:59gynecology and reproductive Sciences
01:01at Yale School of Medicine and also his
01:04practices has expanded into Lawrence
01:06and Memorial Hospital and also the
01:09Smilow Cancer Hospital Care Center.
01:11In water Ferd January is cervical
01:14Cancer Awareness Month pretty
01:16important and I would guess to most
01:19people that that's that's one of the
01:22cancers they know least about and.
01:25Perhaps maybe you can not necessarily
01:27describe one of the symptoms of cervical
01:30cancer, and how is it detected?
01:32Absolutely yes.
01:33Good
01:33morning and thanks for having me
01:35this morning and happy Holidays
01:37to you and your listeners.
01:39So you're right, cervical cancer is not
01:41one of the more common cancers that most
01:44people are aware of it and think about.
01:47Typically, cervical cancer is detected
01:49through women going to their gynecologist
01:51and having routine pap smears.
01:53Sometimes every three to five
01:55years depending on their age.
01:57And that's how we hope to try to
01:59detect this cancer through screening.
02:02But there will be a number of women who
02:05present to their doctor with symptoms,
02:07and those symptoms could be
02:09abnormal menstrual periods,
02:10abnormal bleeding patterns,
02:12or any sort of pelvic pain that
02:14they can't otherwise attribute
02:16to something else that they
02:18should seek care from there,
02:20from their doctor
02:21and evaluating that. What's the, what is
02:23the survival rate on cervical cancer?
02:28So Fortunately, cervical cancer is
02:30often detected at an early stage,
02:32and many women will go on to experience
02:35secure and so because this is one of the
02:39things that we have screening test for.
02:41But we are able to detect this at
02:44an early stage where many women can
02:47be cured with either just a surgery
02:49or perhaps a surgery and some
02:52additional treatment like radiation.
02:54After their surgery.
02:55I should I should note that.
02:58January and why this is important.
03:00January is cervical Cancer
03:02Awareness Month and I find when
03:04we focus on on certain things,
03:07it at least helps us raise awareness.
03:10Is there an age group that is more
03:13susceptible and how and how do?
03:15How do people do women get cervical cancer?
03:20That's a great question.
03:21So several cancer for many years
03:23was often thought to be a disease
03:26more related to younger women,
03:27and then have to do with the
03:29fact that we begin screening for
03:31cervical cancer and cervical fell
03:33changes in the younger population.
03:35But we actually see that there is a bit
03:39of a two spikes in the in the age range,
03:42so younger women in there maybe
03:44early early reproductive years.
03:46So mid to late 30s. But we also
03:48see arrive in cases in women as a.
03:51Enter post menopause.
03:53So after they've completed having
03:55their children in their 50s and early
03:5760s cervical cancer almost universally
03:59is caused by the HPV infection.
04:01This is an extremely common infection
04:03that almost all adult men and women
04:06will have at some point in their life.
04:08However,
04:09there are some strains that do
04:11stick around in a woman's body
04:13and in a man's body as well,
04:15and they just don't get cleared
04:17away by the immune system.
04:19We don't fully understand why yet.
04:22But unfortunately there is a vaccine
04:24for this virus that we recommend is
04:26administered to people in their younger
04:28years in order to try to prevent this
04:30from developing later on in life.
04:31You know we're going.
04:33We're going to hold here
04:34for a moment. We're going to go
04:36to a break when we come back.
04:38I want to learn a little bit
04:40more about this HPV infection.
04:42How we, whether there are any signs of that,
04:44and what kind of treatment and
04:46will be back in just a couple of
04:48minutes. This
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05:37weather forecast on this Monday.
05:39Variable clouds.
05:40It will be breezy and mild
05:41temperatures this afternoon.
05:42Middle and upper 40s.
05:44Not bad for late December.
05:45We will take it over night.
05:47Partial clearing and cold those by morning
05:49in the mid 20s tomorrow mixture of sun,
05:51clouds, clouds, went out from time to time.
05:54It's breezy and cold though.
05:55Admit 30s, certainly bundle up.
05:57And then Wednesday Sun high clouds.
05:59It'll be close to 40.
06:01Even more changes coming late in the
06:03week from the WBLQ at the center,
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06:06Share The love event going on now
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06:09raised over $20,000 for local
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06:12Share The Love event revenue super
06:14Resell Super will donate $20 to
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06:18Will be selling new Subaru's employee
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06:22Go to battle.com thank you and just smile.
06:24Great new fashions are arriving daily
06:26at Woodmansee's Gift Shop and boutique
06:27Maria Joyce and Anna Maria say dress up.
06:29It's good for your spirit.
06:31While you're there.
06:31Check out the famous sale room where
06:33everything is discounted next door.
06:35What is there's new stuff for the men too?
06:37Warm up this winter in style
06:40with Woodmansee's gift shop
06:41and boutique Dixon Square,
06:43Broad Street and West.
06:44Really amazing downtown.
06:53Good morning, welcome back to the
06:54morning show. It is 752 in the
06:57morning and Zach the degrees on that
06:59temperature on that your device.
07:013333 degrees and we are at 32 degrees
07:05here with us is Doctor Mitchell Clark.
07:08He's a gynecologist oncologist.
07:10Where January is cervical
07:12Cancer Awareness Month and we're
07:14talking about cervical cancer.
07:16We're talking about ways to detect it.
07:19We're talking about who's susceptible to it,
07:23and when we left left.
07:25The last segment.
07:26Doctor Clark mentioned that the
07:29cervical cancer is developed, I guess.
07:31Is it all the time or or or generally
07:34when the when there's an HPV
07:37infection that most men and women
07:40get in there in their lifetime.
07:43Ann is.
07:44Does that always have to be treated
07:46or is that most people just disappear?
07:50In most people that actually disappear.
07:52So if a woman is told by her physician
07:54that there is HPV detected, she should
07:57not be outwardly concerned that she will
07:59necessarily go on to develop a cancer.
08:01And it's very important to remember,
08:03because most of us will
08:04experience this infection.
08:05It will be transient.
08:07Then our bodies will get rid of it,
08:09but there are for some reason just
08:11a percentage of the population that
08:13will harbor onto this virus and
08:15certain strains are more likely
08:16to cause trouble than others.
08:18Unfortunately,
08:18there are no symptoms that present when.
08:21When a person contract this infection,
08:23but it can be detected through the Pap smear,
08:26which hopefully most women are
08:28having done in conjunction with
08:30their primary care doctor,
08:31or they're going
08:32to college is one of the and you
08:35mention is both men and women.
08:38One are the what happens with men with
08:40HPV to something developed from that
08:42or is that also just simply disappear?
08:47Very similar to women. It is asymptomatic.
08:49They acquire the infection and then can pass
08:52it to to women or vice versa in men was
08:55felt to be less important because of our
08:58focus has always been on cervical cancer,
09:00but we are learning more and more of the
09:03importance of HPV related to other cancers
09:06including that of the head and neck.
09:08Unfortunately, there's no screening
09:09test for head and neck cancer,
09:11but it is HPV related,
09:13which is why for that in a number
09:15of reasons we do recommend.
09:17That both boys and girls receive
09:19vaccination for the HPV virus because
09:21we do now know that it is important to
09:24prevent other cancers just beyond cervix.
09:27Cancer related to
09:28HPV. How long is it been a vaccination
09:30available for HPV? So it's
09:32been around for a number
09:34of years over a decade,
09:36but there is a new formulation
09:38available in the last several years
09:40that is approved by the CDC and
09:42the FDA and it's recommended for
09:44boys and girls around age 11 to 12.
09:47The idea here is to vaccinate kids prior
09:49to any exposure to the HPV vaccine
09:52because that's when its effect is greatest.
09:54There's strong data to show that
09:56for men and women up to age 26,
09:59they should still receive.
10:00The vaccine and it is approved up to age 45,
10:04but those benefits are not as strong
10:06and so interested people should speak to
10:08their doctors about whether or not they
10:11would be good candidates between the
10:13age of 26 and 45 if they
10:16weren't already vaccinated.
10:17We spoke earlier about about age groups
10:19that are susceptible to cervical cancer,
10:21and you mentioned there were two spikes,
10:24one in the early reproductive
10:26years and then in women in the
10:28postmenstrual years of 50s and 60s.
10:31I don't know how do we certainly
10:33younger women are should be,
10:35I assume having their their their
10:38annual visits with their gynecologists.
10:40What happens with women when they get older?
10:43Are they?
10:44Are they doing those visits?
10:46Should we be more diligent about
10:48those and that being helpful in
10:51trying to prevent or or or at
10:53least diagnosis disease early on?
10:56That's
10:57a great point. We actually know
10:59that women stop going to the
11:01gynecologist as they get older,
11:03and that's that is a problem because
11:05there are a number of health issues,
11:07including cervical cancers that
11:09should be still screened for even
11:11as women stop having babies and
11:13enter that post menopausal face.
11:14So I encourage every woman,
11:16whether they seek their gynecological
11:18care from their primary care
11:20doctor or from a gynecologist,
11:21to continue to see that
11:23provider on an annual basis,
11:24and they will discuss
11:26what are the recommended.
11:27Screening guidelines for that
11:29individual woman and when it
11:31is safe to stop doing the pap
11:34smear depending on each interval.
11:36Individual persons, history
11:38and risk factors are symptoms if they exist.
11:41Are they different in the different age
11:44groups? Not necessarily.
11:45We find that most of the disease
11:48that is detected by symptoms present
11:51with abnormal bleeding and some
11:53type of pelvic pain or discomfort.
11:55Obviously any woman who has stopped
11:58having her menstrual period.
12:00Should not be experiencing any
12:02bleeding after that point and that
12:04should prompt a visit to a doctor.
12:06Even the smallest amount of blood
12:08is not normal in that context and
12:11I would advise every woman to
12:13see care if she experiences that,
12:15and by seeking care I presume we
12:18mean going to the gynecologist.
12:20Absolutely, there are women who live
12:22in communities where there are not
12:24readily accessible to gynecologist,
12:26but many primary care providers are
12:28comfortable doing cervical cancer screening.
12:30So they just need to make sure that they
12:32are seeing someone who is comfortable
12:35with doing this screening and doing
12:37an evaluation that can facilitate
12:39stepping up the care to someone like
12:42myself or another oncologist if
12:44need be. You mentioned the the vaccine
12:46and you mentioned that boys and
12:48girls ages 11 through 12 are the the
12:51age at which they should first be
12:54considered getting the vaccine all
12:56the way up until I think in their 20s.
13:00The is this is this readily known by
13:02people or doctors readily suggesting this,
13:05or is this something that people really
13:08need to be proactive and ask for?
13:11I
13:11think it goes both ways.
13:13Many physicians are encouraging
13:14parents to consider this as part of
13:17the vaccination schedule program,
13:18and it is fully endorsed by the
13:21American Academy of Pediatrics as well
13:23as the Centers for Disease Control.
13:25Unfortunately, there has been a
13:27stigma surrounding the HPV vaccine,
13:28given the fact that HPV is considered
13:30to be a sexually transmitted disease.
13:33However, I would encourage people to think
13:35of this as a cancer prevention vaccine
13:38because we have years of data to show.
13:41That this can save lives or from cervical
13:44cancer as well as head and neck cancer.
13:47And in countries where universal
13:49vaccination programs have been rolled out,
13:52including Canada, Australia,
13:53they are seeing significant
13:55increases in their rates of
13:57precancerous diseases as well as
13:58HPV related cancers.
13:59Do we do we know or we have any
14:03actually pretty much anytime,
14:05but really quickly, how?
14:06What percentage of young people are
14:09actually getting the vaccination?
14:11Or is this is something that's growing?
14:13You mentioned it's about.
14:16I've been around for at least a decade.
14:18Yeah, that's a great question.
14:20I just recently finished a study.
14:22You know, Canadian population for the
14:24vaccination rates for both 60 to 70%.
14:26The number is very geographically
14:28dependent in the United States
14:30and we don't have the same
14:32cancer registry data available
14:34to us to have a pinpoint number,
14:36but I think we're probably in
14:38the round 40 to 50% in some areas
14:41much better in other areas,
14:42and there are a lot of factors
14:45that influence the uptake
14:46rate of that vaccination.
14:48Doctor Clark, unfortunately
14:49we're at the end of our segment.
14:51I want to thank you so much for
14:53being with us this morning.
14:55Very important subject matter.
14:56Again, if anybody has any any questions.
14:58If anybody has any feels that they
15:00have may have any kind of symptoms,
15:02go see your gynecologist and
15:04they'll be able to help you
15:05out and help screening that.
15:08Thanks so much. Thank
15:09you and with that, Zach. What time is it?
15:14Is temper the news? How it's now
15:18time for the
15:208:00 o'clock news on WBLQ bra?