Cervical cancer arises from the cervix, which is the lower part of the uterus that attaches to the top of the vagina.  It can originate from the skin like cells on the outside of the cervix (squamous cancer) or from the gland like cells in the inside of the cervix (adenocarcinoma). 

 

Worldwide, cervical cancer is the third most common type of cancer in women. However, it is much less common in the United States because of the availability of pap smears that screen for precancerous and cancerous changes of the cervix.

Find Frequently Asked Questions about Cervical Cancer.

Statistics About Cervical Cancer

The American Cancer Society's most recent estimates for cervical cancer in the United States:

• About 12,710 women will be diagnosed with invasive cervical cancer in 2012.
• About 4,290 women will die from cervical cancer in 2012.
• Hispanic women and African-American women are more likely to get cervical cancer than non-Hispanic white women.
• Fifty percent of women who get cervical cancer are between the ages of 30 - 55.
• All women with cervical cancer have had a human papillomavirus (HPV) infection at some time in their life. 
  
• Most women with an HPV infection will never get any disease related to that infection. Most HPV infections will clear on their own.
• Over the last 50 years, routine Pap test screening for cervical cancer has reduced deaths from the cancer by 74%.

NEW Screening Guidelines: "The annual Pap is no longer the standard of care."

According to The American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG), women should start having cervical cancer screening at age 21 years. How often screening is performed and which tests depend on a women's age and health history:

• Women aged 21 - 29 years should have a Pap test every 3 years.
• Women aged 30 - 65 years who have negative test results should have a Pap test and an HPV test every 5 years (preferred). This is called co-testing.  

• Women 30 years and older who receive a HPV-positive, cytology-negative result should repeat cytology and HPV testing at 12 months.

• Women should stop having cervical cancer screenings after age 65 if they do not have a history of moderate or severe dysplasia or cancer and they have had either three negative Pap test results in a row or two negative co-test results in a row within the past 10 years.
• Women, regardless of age, who have had a hysterectomy with removal of the cervix (total hysterectomy) and have no history of CIN 2 or CIN 3 should discontinue routine cervical cancer screening.
• HPV-vaccinated women should follow the same cervical cancer screening guidelines as unvaccinated women.
  

Find out more information about the new screening guidelines.