Cervical Cancer

Researchers at the University of Queensland, Australia, have identified the receptor on human skin and mucosal cells that they believe allows papillomaviruses to attach to and infect those cells.

Carcinoma of the cervix is one of the most common malignancies in women, accounting for 15,700 new cases and 4,900 deaths in the United States each year. Worldwide, cervical cancer is second only to breast cancer as the most common

With the introduction of increasingly effective antiretroviral agents for the management of AIDS, the life expectancy of appropriately treated patients will continue to lengthen, as will the length of time during which infected patients may develop malignancies, both HIV-related and non-HIV-related. The management of such patients will require careful consideration of the impact of all oncologic therapy on the immune system's ability to hold the virus at bay. Radiation therapy, with its recognized immunosuppressive effects, plays an important role in the management of the major AIDS-defining neoplasms, Kaposi's sarcoma, primary central nervous system lymphoma, and cervical carcinoma, and is used in approximately 50% of patients with non-HIV-related malignancies at some point in the disease course. The judicious use of radiation therapy and proper integration of aggressive antiretroviral therapy can result in control of malignancies without contributing to the rapid progression of HIV disease. [ONCOLOGY 11(5):683-694, 1997]

LOS ANGELES--Laboratory studies from the UCLA School of Medicine point to a role for myoepithelial cells in suppressing breast cancer invasion, said researcher Mark Sternlicht, PhD. Myo-epithelial cells lie between the epithelium and the basement membrane. They synthesize and maintain the basement membrane and can promote epithelial differentiation. They are found surrounding benign and nonmalignant lesions.

A study of women with cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN), a condition that often precedes invasive cervical cancer and is linked to infection with certain strains of human papillomavirus (HPV), found that those with the most extensive infections also

VIENNA--A new study from the EORTC Gynecologic Cancer Cooperative Group (GCCG) has challenged the assumption that aggressive combination chemotherapy is worthwhile in chemotherapy-naïve women with metastatic squamous cell cancer of the cervix.

For women diagnosed with stage I cervical cancer during pregnancy who are torn between the desire to maintain a healthy pregnancy and the need for cancer treatment, a recent study offers hope that both desires can be achieved. The study,

WASHINGTON--For the first time since its inception in 1991, funds from the Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program will flow to all 50 states in fiscal 1997, the Department of Health and Human Services announced.

Drs. Mason and Levesque thoroughly review data from intervention trials and epidemiologic studies that suggest a role for folate in preventing cancer of the colorectum and, to a lesser degree, cancers of the uterine cervix, lung, esophagus, and stomach. The authors also provide a comprehensive discussion of the possible mechanisms by which folate may prevent cancer, in particular, the relationship between folate status and DNA methylation.

MARLBOROUGH, Mass--Cytyc Corporation's ThinPrep 2000 System for cervical cancer screening has received FDA approval and is now available. The system offers an improved method of preparing Pap smears over the conventional method, leading to fewer retests due to compromised smears and potentially fewer missed abnormalities.

NEW ORLEANS--In a phase I trial from M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, the chemopreventive agent difluorometh-ylornithine (DFMO) produced significant regression of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) grade 3, Michele Follen Mitchell, MD, reported at the Society of Gynecologic Oncologists meeting.

Cervical cancer's slow, noticeable growth makes it "an ideal disease" for screening, but poor choices--like not getting a Pap smear or having unprotected sex as young adults--give the disease a disastrous head start, a University of Wisconsin Medical

BETHESDA, Md--Of the 4,900 US deaths each year from cervical cancer, virtually all could have been prevented by routine Pap smears, and nearly all cases could be prevented by practicing safe sex to avoid infection with the human papillomavirus (HPV), a panel of independent experts appointed by the NIH said in a consensus statement.

Ten-year survival data of patients with high-risk cervical cancer emphasize the need for extended-field irradiation, according to

The April 1995 issue of Oncology featured an article that presented sound information on the state of viral interactions and cervical cancer, along with several excellent reviews. Cancer of the uterine cervix is a significant health and emotional

SAN FRANCISCO--For 15 years, there has been a clear, epidemiologic link between cigarette smoking and an increased risk of cervical cancer, Steven Waggoner, MD, said at a poster presentation at the Society of Gynecologic Oncol-ogists meeting.

Bacterial vaginosis, the most widespread vaginal infection in the United States, is associated with a 357% increase in the incidence of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN), an abnormality of cervical

Hines and colleagues provide a comprehensive review of the human papillomavirus (HPV) and its association with cervical carcinoma. It is now widely appreciated that HPV infection is important in the etiology of cervical dysplasia and carcinoma.

Cervical cancer, which has claimed over 4,500 deaths annually in the United States and hundreds of thousands of lives in other parts of the world, is a preventable disease. Most cervical cancers are preceded by a prolonged phase of cervical

Studies have shown a strong association between certain human papillomaviruses and the development of cervical carcinoma and its precursor lesions. The oncogenic potential of papillomaviruses has been clearly