ABSTRACT

Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection continues to be a national and international health problem of epidemic proportions. Despite that new AIDS cases increased by less than 5% for the fifth year in a row, a number well below the rate of increase in the epidemic’s first decade, the incidence of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) cases among women continues to increase, particularly in minority women. Approximately 19% of new adult and adolescent cases of AIDS in the United States last year were in women, and women represent the subgroup with the greatest rate of increase compared with any other defined population in North America. As with cervical neoplasia, HIV infection is largely a disease of women in their reproductive years, with the incidence of both diseases significantly higher in women of color. Even with widespread screening efforts, an estimated 15,000 new cases of invasive cervical carcinoma are diagnosed each year in the United States. This number represents only a fraction of the women treated for preinvasive cervical neoplasia and evaluated for abnormal cytology. Cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) has long represented the model of transition from a precursor lesion to invasive disease.