This year in the United States 9,710 women will be diagnosed and 3,700 will die of cervical cancer. Due to the invention and use of the Pap smear over the last 50 years, cervical cancer has gone from the most common female cancers to only the third most common cancer of the female genital system. Due to the Pap smear, most cervical cancers are caught in the early stages where the cure rates are very high (92 percent for localized disease at 5 years). For all stages, relative 5-year survival rates are 71 percent.

The development of radical surgery to remove the cervix and surrounding tissues has greatly aided survival and quality of life for women with early stage cervical lesions. For women with late stage cervical cancer, the addition of low dose chemotherapy to pelvic radiation has significantly increased the survival rates for these patients. In addition, the University of Iowa has been integrally involved in the development of a human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine that may prevent cervical cancers in the future.

At Holden Comprehensive Cancer Center, we are working hard to find new ways to treat, and hopefully one day, prevent cervical cancer. We are a parent institution of the Gynecologic Oncology Group, which is a large NCI-sponsored multi-institutional study group that conducts clinical trials specifically for women with gynecologic malignancies. The Division of Gynecologic Oncology is also actively involved in molecular and translational research that will aid in drug development and identification of individuals with tumors at high risk for recurrence. Through our research efforts and enrollment of patients in national clinical trials, we are committed to helping women fight cervical cancer.

What You Need to Know about Cancer of the Cervix