Cancer is a disease in which abnormal cells in the body grow out of control. When these abnormal cells are present in the cervix, it is called cervical cancer, or cancer of the cervix. As the drawing shows, the cervix is the lower, narrower part of the uterus. The uterus is also known as the womb. The upper part of the uterus is where a baby grows when a woman is pregnant. The cervix connects the upper part of the uterus to the vagina (the birth canal).
Diagram of the female genital tract depicting fallopian tubes, ovaries, uterus, cervix, and vaginaA Pap test is a procedure in which cells are scraped from the cervix and examined under a microscope. It is used to detect cancer or changes that may lead to cancer. A Pap test can also show noncancerous conditions, such as infection or inflammation.
Getting regular Pap tests can save a woman's life. Cervical cancer can usually be prevented if precancerous cervical lesions are found by a Pap test and treated. Invasive cervical cancer can usually be cured if it is found early through regular Pap tests and treated promptly. About half of the women in the United States who develop cervical cancer have never had a Pap test. Regular Pap tests decrease a woman's risk for developing cervical cancer because they can detect precancerous cervical lesions at early, treatable stages.
Cervical cancer was once the leading cause of cancer death for women in the United States. However, during the past four decades, incidence and mortality have declined significantly, primarily because of the widespread use of the Papanicolaou (Pap) test to detect cervical abnormalities. The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force strongly recommends screening for cervical cancer in women who have been sexually active and have a cervix. Nonetheless, approximately half of the cervical cancers currently diagnosed in the United States are in women who have never received a Pap test, and an additional 10 percent occur in women who have not been screened within the past 5 years.
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