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Lesions of the Uterine Cervix

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Handbook of Gynecology

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Abstract

The fact that cervical epithelium is prone to microtrauma and its proliferation is hormonally influenced by estrogen and progesterone leads to a wide spectrum of cervical epithelial lesions. These lesions include repair, atrophy, metaplasia, infection, and inflammatory processes, as well as malignant tumors and their precursors. The uterine cervix is also unique as it is accessible to screening by Pap smears, thus allowing early diagnoses of lesions. Epithelial tumors such as squamous and glandular tumors have well-characterized precursor lesions, including high-grade squamous intraepithelial lesion and adenocarcinoma in situ. These precursor lesions as well as epithelial malignancies are mainly caused by human papillomavirus (HPV) infection, and screening algorithms include co-testing by Pap test and HPV DNA detection. Cervical lesions are broadly classified into epithelial and mesenchymal subtypes. Epithelial tumors are by far the most common, and they are further subclassified as squamous cell carcinoma, adenocarcinoma, and neuroendocrine carcinomas. Mesenchymal tumors (sarcomas) are rare, and they are classified based on the cell of origin of the tumor. Tumors with mixed phenotypes are rare occurrences. This chapter provides a brief overview of the histological patterns of the common cervical lesions with a focus on epithelial malignant tumors and their precursors.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Keck School of Medicine at University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA

    Saloni Walia

  2. Department of Pathology, Sonic Healthcare, Las Vegas, NV, USA

    Paulette Mhawech-Fauceglia

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  1. Saloni Walia
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  2. Paulette Mhawech-Fauceglia
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA

    Donna Shoupe

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Walia, S., Mhawech-Fauceglia, P. (2023). Lesions of the Uterine Cervix. In: Shoupe, D. (eds) Handbook of Gynecology. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-14881-1_62

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-14881-1_62

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-031-14880-4

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-031-14881-1

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