ABSTRACT
Cervical cancer is the most common form of cancer in women in developing countries and the third most common form of cancer in women in the world as a whole. Cervical cancer accounts for 6 percent of all malignancies in women. Although cervical screening has been carried out in the UK since the 1960s, the benefits of screening are only now becoming apparent, following the reorganisation of the service in 1988. The goals of the management of cervical cancer are to stage the disease and to treat both the primary lesion and other sites of spread. Cervical cancers spread by direct spread into the cervical stroma, parametrium and beyond, and by lymphatic metastasis into parametrial, pelvic sidewall and para-aortic nodes. Specialised gynaecological oncology teams should determine the management of women with cervical cancer. Treatment for recurrent cervical cancer depends on the mode of primary therapy and the site of recurrence.
