Cervical carcinoma
Cervical carcinoma
Updated: 01/10/2023
© Jun Wang, MD, PhD
General features
- Incident declining due to screening (Pap test, HPV test)
- Expected to decline more due to HPV vaccination
- Majority are squamous cell carcinoma, followed by adenocarcinoma
- Screening techniques NOT sensitive enough for adenocarcinoma
- May be HPV independent in both squamous and adenocarcinoma
- HPV-independent cancers tend to have worse prognosis
- Current WHO classification 2020
Clinical presentations
- Usually asymptomatic
- Commonly identified after abnormal Pap test
- Most common symptom: vaginal bleeding, usually postcoital
- May have watery, mucoid or purulent discharges with malodor
- Symptoms associated with affected structures if advanced, including pelvic or lower back pain, bowel or urinary symptoms, etc
Key risk factors
- Early age at first intercourse
- Multiple sexual partners
- Male partner with multiple prior sexual partners
- Cigarette smoking
- History of HSIL or adenocarcinoma in situ
- Oral contraceptives, parity, family history, associated genital infections, no circumcision in male partner, etc
Key pathogenesis
- HPV products
E6: Promotes degradation of p53, abnormal activation of telomerase
E7: Inactivates retinoblastoma 1, a tumor suppressor
Key morphological features
- Invasive squamous carcinoma: Irregular nests, cords, or projects dysplastic cells with squamous cell differentiation such as intercellularbridges and/or squamous pearls
- Invasive adenocarcinoma: Irregular glandular spaces lined by atypical cells with large irregular hyperchromic nuclei, high nuclear/cytoplasm ratio, brisk mitosis
- p16 positive if HPV associated
Treatment
- Surgery
- Pelvic exenteration
- Radiation
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