Cervical cancer is the second most common type of cancer in women worldwide, after breast cancer. The American Cancer Society predicts that there will be about 12,800 new cases of invasive cervical cancer in the year 2000. There are several different types of cancer of the cervix.
Cancers of the cervix can take many years to develop and there are usually no symptoms for a long period before the disease becomes evident. Therefore, routine screening is critical to detect early changes and prevent progression to invasive disease.
About 85-90% are squamous cell carcinomas. The other 10-15% are adenocarcinomas. If the cancer has both types it is called mixed (adenosquamous) carcinoma.
When diagnosed early, most cervical cancers are curable. The key to good outcome is early detection and prompt treatment. Regular routine screening is critical to detecting early changes and preventing progression to advanced disease.
Treatment consists usually of a combination of surgery and chemotherapy, radiation, and/or biologic therapy.
This MediFocus Guide contains an extensive listing of citations and abstracts of recent journal articles that have been published about this condition in trustworthy medical journals. This is the same type of information that is available to physicians and other health care professionals. A partial selection of journal articles that are abstracted in this MediFocus Guide includes:
Human papillomavirus-positive well-differentiated villoglandular adenocarcinoma of the uterine cervix: A case report and review of the literature. Gynecologic Oncology. 2000
Surgery for cervical intraepithelial neoplasia. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews [computer file]. 2000
Interventions for encouraging sexual lifestyles and behaviours intended to prevent cervical cancer. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews [computer file]. 2000
Accuracy of the Papanicolaou test in screening for and follow-up of cervical cytologic abnormalities: a systematic review. Annals of Internal Medicine. 2000
Prevention of cervix cancer. Critical Reviews in Oncology-Hematology. 2000
Risk factors for pre-cancerous lesions of the cervix. European Journal of Cancer Prevention. 2000
Cervical screening: how often should women be screened?. Cytopathology. 2000
Report on consensus conference on cervical cancer screening and management. International Journal of Cancer. 2000
Cervical cancer risk: is there a genetic component?. Molecular Medicine Today. 2000
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