Cervical cancer more prevalent in older women, black women than thought

According to a new study in Cancer, the incidence of cervical cancer in older women may be higher than has been previously reported.

Estimates of hysterectomy prevalence from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System were used by the researchers to calculate hysterectomy-corrected age-standardized and age-specific incidence rates of cervical cancer from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results 18 registry in the United States from 2000 to 2009. Joinpoint regression was used to analyze the trends in corrected cervical cancer across age.

The corrected rates of cervical cancer continue to increase after ages 35 to 39 (APC_corrected=10.43), unlike the decline seen in the uncorrected rates. However, this rate is lower than in those ages 20 to 34 years (APC_corrected=161.29). Women aged 65 to 69 years had the highest corrected incidence, with a rate of 27.4 cases per 100,000. The highest uncorrected incidence of cervical cancer was in women aged 40 to 44 years: 15.6 cases to 100,000. Correcting for hysterectomy had the biggest impact on older, black women because of their high rate of hysterectomies.

The researchers concluded that when corrected, the rate of cervical cancer in older women and black women, when compared to their white counterparts, is higher than previously reported. Exit screening and risk and screening guidelines for older women, they said, may need to be reconsidered in light of the new findings.

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