title: Cervical cancer: prevention and treatment.
abstract: Cervical cancer is the commonest cancer cause of death among women in developing countries and efforts to prevent the disease using newer approaches and HPV vaccination need to be explored. Detection of cervical cancer at an early stage is associated with excellent survival but most women in developing countries present with advanced and often untreatable disease, with very poor survival. The ratio between incidence and mortality from cervical cancer remains very high, largely due to lack of access to appropriate anti-cancer therapies in developing countries. In developed countries with functional screening programs, cervical cancer has been rendered a relatively rare disease. Ongoing efforts to refine the characteristics of screening tests continue, as does implementation of current HPV vaccines for the primary prevention of cervical cancer.
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa. lynette.denny@uct.ac.za
authors.forename: Lynette
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Denny
mesh_terms: D000230:Adenocarcinoma / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000628:therapy; D018196:Carcinoma, Adenosquamous / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000628:therapy; D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology / Q000517:prevention & control* / Q000628:therapy*; D003906:Developing Countries / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005260:Female; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000628:therapy; D006801:Humans; D030361:Papillomavirus Infections / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000628:therapy; D015995:Prevalence; D011315:Preventive Medicine / Q000379:methods; D002583:Uterine Cervical Neoplasms / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology / Q000517:prevention & control* / Q000628:therapy*