Pathology of the cervix: recent developments

In the UK, cervical carcinoma is still the eleventh most common cause of cancer in women--it comprises 2% of all female cancers, and accounts for 927 deaths in 2002 alone. The most effective treatments to date are surgery in the form of loop excision of the transformation zone (LLETZ) for pre-invasive disease, LLETZ or simple hysterectomy with laparoscopic pelvic lymphadenectomy for International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO) Stages IA1 and IA2 microinvasive carcinomas, and Wertheim's hysterectomy or Coelio-Schauta for FIGO Stage IB disease along with concurrent chemoradiotherapy in patents with at least FIGO Stage IB disease. However, radical trachelectomy, which involves a radical excision of the cervix with simultaneous laparoscopic or extraperitoneal lymphadenectomy, may be used selectively in patients with up to FIGO Stage IB1 cancers, as this may preserve fertility in younger women. This paper briefly discusses the role of human papilloma viruses (HPV) and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) in the development of cervical pre-cancer, and some of the improvements in the techniques used in the cervical carcinoma screening programme. In addition, the diagnosis, staging, spread and prognostic factors involved in invasive cervical carcinoma are mentioned. We will also discuss the role of immunohistochemistry in the diagnosis of invasive cervical carcinoma and recent advances in the molecular pathology of cervical carcinomas.