Cervical Cancer Flashcards
What is cervical cancer?
Cancer arising from the cervix
What is the most common type of cervical cancer?
Squamous cell carcinoma
How does cervical cancer compare to other cancers in terms of prevalence worldwide?
3rd most commonly diagnosed world wide
How does cervical cancer compare to other cancers as causes of cancer deaths in women?
4th most common
How many new cases of cervical cancer are there each year in the UK?
3000
How many cervical cancer deaths are there each year in the UK?
850
How common is cervical cancer in women in the UK?
14th most common cancer in females
What % of cervical cancer cases in the UK are considered preventable?
99.8%
What is the most common age range for diagnosis of cervical cancer?
25-34 years old
What % of cervical cancers are squamous cell carcinomas?
70%
What are the other types of cervical cancer?
- Mixed pattern (15%)
- Adenocarcinoma (15%)
What stages of disease can all subtypes of cervical cancer causes?
Pre-invasive and invasive
How do most cases of cervical cancer progress to invasive disease?
From HPV infection to CIN to invasive disease
What does CIN stand for?
Cervical intraepithelial neoplasia
What is CIN?
A cytological diagnosis describing involvement of the epidermis
What are the subtypes of CIN?
CIN I-III
What is CIN I?
Disease confined to the lower 1/3 of the epithelium
What happens to most cases of CIN I?
They regress slowly (some progress)
What is CIN II?
Disease confined to the lower and middle thirds of the epithelium
What is CIN III?
Disease affecting the full thickness of the epithelium
What % of CIN III progress to invasive carcinoma within 2-10 years?
10%
What % of CIN III will regress spontaneously?
30%
How long does progression from CIN I to III take approximately?
7 years
What is invasive cervical cancer?
Where there is breach of the epithelial basement membrane at any point
What can invasive cervical cancer be divided into?
- Micro-invasive carcinoma
- Invasive carcinoma
What is micro-invasive carcinoma of the cervix?
Deepest invasive element is <5mm from the surface of the epithelium
What is invasive carcinoma of the cervix?
Deepest invasive element is >5mm from the surface of the epithelium or >7mm wide
What does invasive carcinoma of the cervix require in terms of assessment?
Formal staging
What is the most important risk factor for cervical cancer?
Presence of HPV infection
What % of cervical tumours have HPV infection involved?
99%
What are the most high risk types of HPV in terms of cervical cancer?
16 and 18
What % of cervical cancer have HPV 16/18 involved?
70%
What are some other risk factors for cervical cancer?
- Heterosexual women
- Women with multiple sexual partners
- Partners of promiscuous males
- Smoking
- Lower social class
- Immunosuppression
- Long term use of OCP
- Non-attendance at cervical screening programme
What is the aim of the cervical screening programme?
To detect CIN in the asymptomatic population to reduce mortality and morbidity
How is cervical cancer screening performed?
Insert speculum to view the squamocolumnar junction of the cervix and rotate brush against it to take cells for liquid based cytology
How are the cells taken on cervical cancer screening analysed?
Look for abnormalities of the nucleus and other aspects of cell morphology
How can the results of cervical cancer screening be classified?
- Negative
- Inadequate
- Borderline
- Mild dyskaryosis
- Moderate dyskaryosis
- Severe dyskaryosis
- Glandular neoplasia
What % of cervical cancer screening tests are negative?
94%
What can cause an inadequate cervical cancer screening result?
- Insufficient materials sampled
- Unlabelled specimens
- Inadequate fixation/poor spreading on the material
What is a borderline cervical cancer screening result?
Cells with abnormal nuclei but cannot say for certain if they display dyskaryosis
What does mild dyskaryosis usually equate to?
CIN I
What does moderate dyskaryosis usually equate to?
CIN II
What doe severe dyskaryosis usually equate to?
CIN III
What percent of cervical smears show glandular neoplasia?
0.1%
What does glandular neoplasia indicate?
Abnormalities of glandular cells suggestive of adenocarcinoma in situ/of cervix/ endometrial adenocarcinoma or other organ
How should a negative cervical screening result be managed?
- Investigate any incidental findings
- Ensure patient is informed
- Recall as appropriate for age and previous history
How should inadequate cervical screening results be managed?
- Repeat sample as soon as possible
- If persistent advise for colposcopy
How should borderline and mild dyskaryosis results be managed?
- Test for HPV
If HPV test for borderline or mild cervical screening results is negative, how should this be managed?
Return to normal recall
If HPV test for borderline or mild cervical screening results is positive how should this be managed?
Refer for colposcopy