What is cervical cancer?
Cervical cancer is a type of cancer that starts in the cells of the cervix. Most cervical cancers are caused by the human papillomavirus (HPV) infecting and turning healthy cells into abnormal pre-cancerous cells called, High-grade Squamous Intraepithelial Lesion (HSIL) and Adenocarcinoma In Situ (AIS). If detected early these pre-cancerous cells can be effectively treated and are unlikely to develop into invasive tumours. The HPV vaccine and pap smears are helping to reduce cervical cancers.
You can access further information about cervical cancer, including risk factors, symptoms, diagnosis and treatment from Cancer Council Victoria. You can also call our trusted cancer nurses on 13 11 20 for support and to learn about our range of services for people affected by cancer.
The Victorian Cancer Registry also operates an interactive web portal, Data Explorer, which provides more trends and statistics than published here.
How common is cervical cancer?
In 2021, 209 Victorian females were diagnosed with invasive cervical cancer. Currently, invasive cervical cancer is diagnosed at a rate of 4.6 per 100,000 females. The median age at diagnosis of invasive cervical cancer is 48 (Figure 1 & 2). Accounting for 0.6% of all cancers diagnosed and 0.4% of all cancer-related deaths in 2021, invasive cervical cancer was the 18th most commonly diagnosed cancer and the 23rd most common cause of cancer-related deaths in Victorian females.
Trends in cervical cancer over time
Figure 3 shows that since 1982 incidence of invasive cervical cancer has decreased by an average of 2.6% per year in females. Over the past 39 years, mortality from invasive cervical cancer has decreased by 5% per year in females. For the same period, the incidence of pre-cancers (HSIL/AIS) has increased by an average of 1.7% in females.
Cervical cancer morphology
Figure 4 provides a summary of the different types of cells (morphology) which have caused invasive cervical cancer among females. Most invasive cervical cancer, 61.2%, presents as Squamous cell carcinoma cell tumours.
Geographical variance in cervical cancer by local government area
Figure 5 demonstrates variation in age-standardised incidence rates of cervical cancer, by local government areas. Darker shading indicates areas with higher rates of cervical cancer.
Cervical cancer in people born overseas
Figure 6 shows the age standardised incidence rates of invasive cervical cancer in Australian-born Victorian females compared to other major migrant groups, over the five-year period 2017 to 2021. The highest age standardised incidence rate of 8.5 was observed in those born in the North-East Asia region and lowest rate of 2.2 was observed in people born in the Southern and Central Asia region.
Cervical cancer five-year relative survival
Figure 7 shows the change in 5-year survival for cervical cancer, and the 5-year survival trend for all cancers over the same time period. It demonstrates that five-year relative survival has increased for invasive cervical cancer between 1986-1990 and 2016-2020 from 69% to 75%.