Cervical Cancer

Epidemiology: In the year 2020, cervical cancer or the cancer of cervix uteri ranks seventh in global incidence of all cancers with 6,04,127 new cases accounting to 3.1% and ninth in mortality with 3,41,831 deaths accounting to 3.4% [1]. In females, it is the fourth among cancers in incidence (6.5%) and mortality (7.7%) [1]. The incidence and mortality rates were very high in south central Asia (1,48,128 new cases and 91,985 deaths) and eastern Asia (1,29,567 new cases and 66,436 deaths) followed by south eastern Asia (68,623 new cases and 38,530 deaths) and eastern Africa (54,560 new cases and 36,497 deaths). In European countries, 58,200 new diagnoses and 26,000 deaths with incidence and mortality rates of 3% each were observed [2]. The 5-year survival rate is generally based on the cancer stage at which the patient is diagnosed; the highest rate (92%) was in patients diagnosed with stage I localized cancer and the lowest (17%) was in patients with stage IV cancer [3]. The 5-year survival rates for localized, regional metastatic, and distant metastatic stages of cancer were 92%, 57%, and 19%, respectively in white women, and 87%, 49%, and 11%, respectively in black women [3]. In United States, the median age of cervical cancer diagnosis is 47 years [4]. The delayed age of diagnosis is largely due to lack of screening, poor awareness, and poor diagnostic measures in many countries. Further, lack of possible effective treatments for recurrent and/or metastatic cervical cancers resulted in still or reduced survival rates [5]. Among children and adolescents in the age group of 0–18 years in United States, the incidence of cervical cancer was observed to be 3.9% [6].