Cervical Cancer Overview - OmniMedicalSearch.com

Conditions & Diseases: Cancers

Cervical Cancer

Introduction & Overview

Cervical cancer is a form of cancer that develops in the lining of the cervix.

The cervix is the lower, narrow part of the uterus which connects the uterus to the vagina (birth canal). The uterus is a hollow, pear-shape organ where the fetus grows when a woman is pregnant. The cervix is divided in two sections: the endocervix (the section closest to the uterus) and the ectocervix (the section closest to the vagina). Most cervical cancers develop where these two sections meet.

Cervical cancer undergoes a slow-growing process. Initially, the normal cervical cells gradually develop precancerous changes, a phase known in medical terms as dysphasia, cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN), or squamous intraepithelial lesion (SIL). These changes can range between mild precancerous changes to moderate and even high-grade lesions.

Left untreated this precancerous stage can turn into cancer, which spreads deeply into the cervix and adjacent tissues. Not all the precancerous changes lead to cancer. In some women, these changes can remain unchanged and even go away without treatment, but in other cases the evolution from the precancerous changes to cancer can range between less than a year to several years.

Normally, the cervical cells grow and divide to form new cells, and when they get old, they die, allowing new cells to take their place. When this process is impaired, the cells start to divide and grow abnormally, the old cells do not die when they should, and the result is an abnormal tissue mass or tumor.

There are two types of tumors: benign (term that refers to a non-cancerous mass or growth which is not life threatening, because it does not spread damaging adjacent tissues, structures, and organs) and malignant (term that refers to a cancerous mass or growth which can invade and destroy adjacent tissues and organs inside the body causing death).

Cervical cancer is the third most common gynecological cancer in US. Statistics predict that in 2007 around 11,000 to 12,000 women will be diagnosed with cervical cancer and about 3,600 will die because of this cancer. Worldwide, one in ten women diagnosed with cancer suffer from cervical cancer. It is the most diagnosed type of cancer among women from Southern Africa and Central America.

Thanks to effective screening tests, today cervical cancer can be detected early or even in precancerous stages when the treatment is highly effective.

Article by Alina Morrow, MS
Medical Writer
OmniMedicalSearch.com