Comparison of the clinical features of uterine cervical cancers detected by mass screening and voluntary visit

In order to identify the characteristics of uterine cervical cancers detected by mass screenings (mass group), these cancers were compared to cancers diagnosed in patients voluntarily visiting medical institutions (voluntary group), and the following results were obtained. 1. The mass group tended to show a higher incidence of cervical cancer, and the voluntary group had a higher incidence of endometrial cancer. 2. In the mass group having cervical cancer, the age was younger than that in the voluntary group. Also the incidence of cancer among relatives within the third generation and the frequency of previous participating in a mass screening were both significantly greater (p less than 0.01), compared to the voluntary group. 3. As compared to the voluntary group, many patients in the mass group having cervical cancer were asymptomatic and were diagnosed at an early stage, and even if symptomatic, there still were more early cancers in the mass group than in the voluntary group (p less than 0.01). 4. The incidence of lymph node metastases in advanced cervical cancer, that is beyond stage I b, was lower in the mass group than in voluntary group (p less than 0.01). 5. Cervical cancers in the mass group were surgically treated in 94.2% of cases, and the rate was higher than that in the voluntary group. In the surgical treatment, 77.4% of cases in the mass group underwent a simple hysterectomy and a semi-radical hysterectomy, and the frequency of surgical treatment was higher than that in the voluntary group (p less than 0.01). There also was a tendency toward a shorter time of operative procedures, less bleeding during operation, and fewer postoperative complications. 6. In the mass group having cervical cancers, the prognosis was favorable (p less than 0.01). By the clinical stage, in early cancers including stage 0 and stage I a, there was no significant difference in the prognosis between the mass group and voluntary group, and in the advanced cancer, the prognosis was more favorable in the mass group compared to the voluntary group (p less than 0.01). Asymptomatic patients had a better prognosis than symptomatic patients, and there was no difference between the two groups, but among symptomatic patients the prognosis was more favorable in the mass group than in the voluntary group.