Facts on Cervical Cancer

• Cervical cancer is the twelfth most common cancer in women in the UK and the third most common gynaecological cancer after uterus (womb) and ovary.
• There are around 2,800 new cases of cervical cancer diagnosed in the UK each year, that is around 55 women every week.
• More than half of all new cases of cervical cancer are diagnosed in women under 50 years, that’s around 1,650 cases each year.
• Cervical cancer in girls under 25 is rare with only 50 cases reported a year.

• Overall, cervical cancer incidence rates in Britain have almost halved in the last 20 years.
• Cervical cancer accounts for 1 in ten cancers diagnosed in women worldwide.
• Cancer of the cervix is the most common cancer diagnosed in women in Southern Africa and Central America.
  • Around two thirds of women with cervical cancer survive their disease for five years or more.
  • Cervical cancer survival is higher in women diagnosed at a younger age. Women under 40 years of age have survival rates of more than 85%.
    • Around 940 women die from cervical cancer each year in the UK.
    • In the UK, it is rare for young women to die from cervical cancer; almost 80% of all cervical cancer deaths occur in women aged 45 and over.
    • Cervical cancer death rates have fallen almost two-thirds in the last 30 years.
    • Worldwide, cervical cancer accounts for almost 1 in ten female cancer deaths.
    • Infection with the human papillomavirus (HPV) is the main risk factor and a necessary cause of cervical cancer.
    • Women with HIV/AIDS are at significantly increased risk of cervical cancer.
      • Infection with the sexually transmitted diseases, herpes simplex virus-2 or Chlamydia trachomatis, may increase risk of cervical cancer.
      • Women with a sister or mother who has had cervical cancer are at increased risk of developing it themselves.
      • Smoking increases risk of cell cervical cancer.
      • Long term use of the oral contraceptive pill increases the risk of cervical cancer.
        • The NHS Cervical Screening Programme was set up in 1988 by the Department of Health.
        • Cervical screening can prevent around 75% of cancer cases in women who attend regularly.
        • HPV vaccination in schools was introduced into the national immunisation programme in 2008, for girls aged 12-13.