Studies on Cancer of the Human Cervix in Relation to Thiol-Groups

Abstract

Despite the encouraging decrease in the incidence of invasive cancer of the cervix and in the associated mortality rate observed over the last 20 years in western countries, cancer of the cervix is still a major and distressing disease especially because it frequently affects young women in the third and fourth decades of life (Ayiomamitis and Math 1987; Bain and Crocker 1983; Carmichael et al. 1984; Dunn and Schweitzer 1981). Table 1 gives a good example of the increase in the incidence of positive smears in women under 30 years either previously screened or not screened over 14 years (Wolfendale et al. 1983). It can be seen that, although the number of positive smears/1000 smears examined was always higher in women not previously screened than previously screened, the incidence of positive smears increased approximately three times from 1970 to 1979 in both groups.