Demographic and socioeconomic factors associated with cervical cancer screening among women in Serbia

Summary Background The knowledge that persistent human papillomavirus (HPV) infection is the main cause of cervical cancer has resulted in the development of prophylactic vaccines to prevent HPV infection and HPV assays that detect nucleic acids of the virus. WHO has launched a Global Initiative to scale up preventive, screening, and treatment interventions to eliminate cervical cancer as a public health problem during the 21st century. Therefore, our study aimed to assess the existing burden of cervical cancer as a baseline from which to assess the effect of this initiative. Methods For this worldwide analysis, we used data of cancer estimates from 185 countries from the Global Cancer Observatory 2018 database. We used a hierarchy of methods dependent on the availability and quality of the source information from population-based cancer registries to estimate incidence of cervical cancer. For estimation of cervical cancer mortality, we used the WHO mortality database. Countries were grouped in 21 subcontinents and were also categorised as high-resource or lower-resource countries, on the basis of their Human Development Index. We calculated the number of cervical cancer cases and deaths in a given country, directly age-standardised incidence and mortality rate of cervical cancer, indirectly standardised incidence ratio and mortality ratio, cumulative incidence and mortality rate, and average age at diagnosis. Findings Approximately 570 000 cases of cervical cancer and 311 000 deaths from the disease occurred in 2018. Cervical cancer was the fourth most common cancer in women, ranking after breast cancer (2·1 million cases), colorectal cancer (0·8 million) and lung cancer (0·7 million). The estimated age-standardised incidence of cervical cancer was 13·1 per 100 000 women globally and varied widely among countries, with rates ranging from less than 2 to 75 per 100 000 women. Cervical cancer was the leading cause of cancer-related death in women in eastern, western, middle, and southern Africa. The highest incidence was estimated in Eswatini, with approximately 6·5% of women developing cervical cancer before age 75 years. China and India together contributed more than a third of the global cervical burden, with 106 000 cases in China and 97 000 cases in India, and 48 000 deaths in China and 60 000 deaths in India. Globally, the average age at diagnosis of cervical cancer was 53 years, ranging from 44 years (Vanuatu) to 68 years (Singapore). The global average age at death from cervical cancer was 59 years, ranging from 45 years (Vanuatu) to 76 years (Martinique). Cervical cancer ranked in the top three cancers affecting women younger than 45 years in 146 (79%) of 185 countries assessed. Interpretation Cervical cancer continues to be a major public health problem affecting middle-aged women, particularly in less-resourced countries. The global scale-up of HPV vaccination and HPV-based screening—including self-sampling—has potential to make cervical cancer a rare disease in the decades to come. Our study could help shape and monitor the initiative to eliminate cervical cancer as a major public health problem. Funding Belgian Foundation Against Cancer, DG Research and Innovation of the European Commission, and The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

Cervical cancer is a malignant tumour that occurs in the cervix and is classified into two histological types, adenocarcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma (SCC); SCC is more common and accounts for 70% of all cases. In 2018 there were ~569,000 new cases of cervical cancer diagnosed worldwide and ~311,000 deaths were attributed to cervical cancer. Of these, between 84 and 90% occurred in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) such as South Africa, India, China and Brazil. The most common cause of cervical cancer is persistent infection caused by the sexually transmitted human papilloma virus. Other factors that contribute to the incidence of cervical cancer include geography, traditional practices and beliefs, the screening levels, socioeconomic status, healthcare access, public awareness, use of oral contraceptives, smoking and co-infection with HIV. An estimated 11 million women from LMICs will be diagnosed with cervical cancer in the next 10–20 years. The aim of this review was to explore various types of genetic and epigenetic factors that influence the development, progression or suppression of cervical cancer.

Cervical cancer is highly preventable and can be easily treated if detected at early stages. However there is disproportionate high burden of cervical cancer incidence and mortality in low-middle income (LMIC) country settings that lack organized screening and prevention programs. Robust evidence for prevention and screening of cervical cancer is currently available. However there are barriers for country specific adoption and implementation. These pose unique challenges such as organizing prevention and screening services delivery through the current health infrastructure, access to screening facilities, follow-up management and adequate linkages for confirmatory diagnosis and subsequent treatment. Overall cervical cancer screening rates and cancer screening among women still remains suboptimal in many LMIC's. Considering the complexities involved in organization, service uptake and delivery of population based cervical cancer prevention and screening programs, this article aims to provide evidence based appropriate, affordable and effective standardized cervical cancer prevention and screening guidelines that are operationally feasible to help adopt best practices for uniform adaptation and implementation leveraging with the existing public health care settings. Cost-effective strategies and tools to reduce cervical cancer burden worldwide to mitigate the existing disparities in cervical cancer burden between low-resourced and high-resourced settings are needed. The current cervical cancer prevention and screening guidelines are drawn from the most robust evidence generated from the randomised trials and cross-sectional studies undertaken in the socioeconomic, cultural and health systems context of varied geographic settings and therefore conform towards applicability for wide-scale, sustainable and uniform implementation of population based cervical cancer screening and prevention program.