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. 1999 Sep;81(1):159–166. doi: 10.1038/sj.bjc.6690666

Trends in cancer of the cervix uteri in Sweden following cytological screening

R Bergström 1,2,*, P Sparén 2,3,*, H-O Adami 2,4
PMCID: PMC2374360  PMID: 10487628

Abstract

Trends in cervical cancer incidence following the introduction of screening have mostly been studied using cross-sectional data and not analysed separately for squamous cell cancer and adenocarcinomas. Using Swedish nationwide data on incidence and mortality, we analysed trends during more than 3 decades and fitted Poisson-based age-period-cohort models, and also investigated whether screening has reduced the incidence of adenocarcinomas of the cervix. The incidence of reported cancer in situ increased rapidly during 1958–1967. Incidence rates of squamous cell cancer, fairly stable before 1968, decreased thereafter by 4–6% yearly in women aged 40–64, with a much smaller magnitude in younger and older women. An age-cohort model indicated a stable 70–75% reduction in incidence for women born 1940 and later compared with those born around 1923. The incidence of adenocarcinomas doubled during the 35-year study period. The mortality rate increased by 3.6% before 1968 and decreased by 4.0% yearly thereafter. Although a combination of organized and opportunistic screening can reduce the incidence of squamous cell cancer substantially, the incidence of adenocarcinomas appears uninfluenced by screening. © 1999 Cancer Research Campaign

Keywords: cytological screening, cervical cancer, squamous cell cancer, adenocarcinoma, age-period-cohort models

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Footnotes

Note The raw data from this study have been placed on the Internet at the following website: www.grace.se/~shprsn/cervix.htm

Selected References

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