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General Information About Cervical Cancer
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Cervical cancer is a disease in which malignant (cancer) cells
form in the cervix.
The cervix is the lower, narrow end of the uterus (the hollow, pear-shaped organ where a fetus grows). The cervix connects the uterus to the vagina (birth canal).
Cervical cancer usually develops slowly over time. Before cancer appears in the cervix, the cells of the cervix go through a series of changes in which cells that are not normal begin to appear in the cervical tissue. When cells change from being normal cells to abnormal cells, it is called dysplasia. Depending on the number of abnormal cells, dysplasia may go away without treatment. The more abnormal cells there are, the less likely they are to go away. Dysplasia that is not treated may turn into cancer, over time. The cancer cells grow and spread through the cervix. It can take many years for dysplasia to turn into cancer.
See the following PDQ summaries for more information about cervical cancer:
Screening for cervical cancer using the Pap test has decreased the number of deaths from cervical cancer.
The number of deaths from cervical cancer has decreased since widespread screening with the Pap test (Pap smear) began.
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