What is cervical cancer?

Cervical cancer is a malignant growth of cells of the cervix. The cervix is the name of the neck of the womb or uterus. It is the narrow part of the uterus which opens into the upper part of the vagina. The cervix has two types of cells, squamous cells and glandular cells, either of these cell types can become cancerous and when they do they are called-:

• Squamous cell cancer of the cervix (90% of cases)
• Adenocarcinoma of the cervix(10% of cases)

Screening programme

Deaths from cervical cancer have been reduced by the cervical cancer screening programme. Women between 25 and 64 years old have a cervical smear test every 3 years. The smear test picks up early changes in cells which if left would grow into cervical cancer. About 80% of cervical cancers can be prevented by screening. This is an explanation of cervical smear test results-:

• Normal – the cells are normal
• CIN1 – cervical intraepithelial neoplasia 1 – the cells are mildly abnormal and may need treatment or may go back to normal
• CIN 2 – the cells look quite abnormal and treatment is required
• CIN 3 – the cells look cancerous and treatment is required

Having an abnormal smear result does not mean that a woman has cancer. Even a CIN3 result where the cells look cancerous means that the cells could become invasive cancer but have not done so yet. The treatment of CIN is removal of the abnormal area of the cervix with loop diathermy or laser treatment during a colposcopy or a minor operation called a cone biopsy. These treatments remove or destroy the abnormal part of the cervix and prevent invasive cervical cancer from developing. Local treatment has no disabling effects. This guidance covers women who have invasive cervical cancer which can have disabling effects.

Prevalence

2800 women are diagnosed with cervical cancer and 1100 women die of the disease every year in the UK. It is the second commonest cancer in women under 35. The outlook for women with this type of cancer is good; about 68% of women affected will be alive 5 years later.

Amended February 2009