The cervix is the lower part of the uterus (womb). It is sometimes called the uterine cervix. It connects the body of uterus to the vagina. The part of the cervix inside the cervix canal is called endocervix. The part on the outside is called the ectocervix. Most cervical cancers start where these two parts meet. There are two main types, squamous cell carcinoma and adenocarcinoma. Occasionally, mixed carcinomas, with features of both types, occur. Approximately 80% of cervical cancers are squamous cell carcinomas, with most of the rest being adenocarcinoma.
Cervical cancer is caused by the sexually transmitted HPV, which is the most common viral infection of the reproductive tract. Almost all sexually active individuals will be infected with HPV at some point in their lives and some may be repeatedly infected. The peak time for infection is shortly after becoming sexual active. Cervical cancer mostly grows slowly, it can take 10 to 15 years for the abnormal cells to turn into cancer(Prevention et al. n.d.).
Cervical cancer is one of the most common cancers among women of reproductive age in low and middle-income …show more content…
This might, in part, explain the increased risk of cervical cancer in women with AIDS. Also that the immune system may be important in destroying cancer cells and slowing their growth and spread. In women with an impaired immune system from HIV, a cervical pre-cancer might develop into an invasive cancer faster than it normally would. Another group of women at risk of cervical cancer are those taking drugs to suppress their immune response, such as those being treated for an autoimmune disease (in which the immune system sees the body’s own tissues as foreign and attacks them, as it would a germ) or those who have had an organ