Cervical Cancer

Cervical Cancer Overview

The uterine cervix is the lowest portion of a woman's uterus (womb). Most of the uterus lies in the pelvis, but part of the cervix is located in the vagina, where it connects the uterus with the vagina.

Cervical cancer occurs when the cells of the cervix change in a way that leads to abnormal growth and invasion of other tissues or organs of the body.

Like all cancers, cancer of the cervix is much more likely to be cured if it is detected early and treated immediately.

• One of the key features of cervical cancer is its slow progression from normal cervical tissue, to precancerous (or dysplastic) changes in the tissue, to invasive cancer.
  
  
• The slow progression through numerous precancerous changes is very important because it provides opportunities for prevention and early detection and treatment.
  
  
• These opportunities have caused the decline of cervical cancer over the past decades in the U.S.

Invasive cancer means that the cancer affects the deeper tissues of the cervix and may have spread to other parts of the body. This spread is called metastasis. Cervical cancers don't always spread, but those that do most often spread to the lungs, the liver, the bladder, the vagina, and/or the rectum.

Causes of Cervical Cancer

Cervical cancer begins with abnormal changes in the cervical tissue. The risk of developing these abnormal changes has been associated with certain factors, including previous infection with human papillomavirus (HPV), early sexual contact, multiple sexual partners, cigarette smoking, and taking oral contraceptives ( birth control pills).

Forms of HPV, a virus whose different types cause skin warts, genital warts, and other abnormal skin and body surface disorders, have been shown to lead to many of the changes in cervical cells that may eventually lead to cancer.

Genetic material that comes from certain forms of HPV has been found in cervical tissues that show cancerous or precancerous changes. In addition, women who have been diagnosed with HPV are more likely to develop a cervical cancer that has genetic material matching the strain of virus that caused the infection. These findings demonstrate a strong link between the virus and cervical cancer.
Because HPV can be transmitted by sexual contact, early sexual contact and having multiple sexual partners have been identified as strong risk factors for the development of changes that may progress to cancer. More specifically, girls who begin sexual activity before the age of 16 or within a year of starting their menstrual periods are at high risk of developing cervical cancer.

Cigarette smoking is another risk factor for the development of cervical cancer. The chemicals in cigarette smoke interact with the cells of the cervix, causing precancerous changes that may over time progress to cancer. The risk of cervical cancer in cigarette smokers is two to five times that of the general population.

Oral contraceptives ("the pill") may increase the risk for cervical cancer, especially in women who use oral contraceptives for longer than five years.