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Cervical cancer foundations

Gynaecological oncology

The cancer of unscreened women. Staged clinically and by imaging, treated by surgery when small and by chemoradiation when not.

Foundations

Cervical cancer on sagittal T2 MRI: the mass at the cervix, and the parametrium and vagina it may reach, which is what FIGO staging now reads from imaging.
  • Postcoital bleeding, intermenstrual bleeding, discharge; a visible or palpable cervical lesion is biopsied, never screened.
  • Squamous cell (about 75 percent) and adenocarcinoma; both HPV-driven.
  • FIGO 2018 staging: I confined to the cervix (IA microscopic, IB visible by size), II beyond the uterus but not to the pelvic wall or lower third of vagina, III to the pelvic wall, lower vagina, hydronephrosis or lymph nodes, IV bladder, rectum or distant. Imaging and pathology now inform the stage.
  • Treatment: cone biopsy or simple hysterectomy for IA; radical hysterectomy with lymph node assessment for IB1 to IB2 (fertility-sparing radical trachelectomy in selected cases); chemoradiation with brachytherapy for IB3 and beyond; systemic therapy with immunotherapy for advanced disease.
  • Prevention is the story: vaccination and screening.

On the modelCervixVaginaBroad and round ligaments

Frameworks and sources

  • Canadian Task Force on Preventive Health Care / provincial programmes: Cervical cancer screening recommendations and provincial HPV-based screening programmes (2025). Intervals and start ages differ by province and are changing as HPV primary screening rolls out; the module teaches the principles and tells the learner to check their programme.

Content reviewed 2026-09. Teaching material for students, not clinical decision support; check the current edition of the guideline your unit uses.