Cancer is a disease that forms a tumor and spreads to other parts of the body. The cervix, located in the lower part of the womb and connected to the birth canal (vagina), is where a tumor or cervical cancer can develop. Cervical cancer occurs when normal cells in the cervix change into cancer cells. It is usually caused by a chronic and persistent cancer-causing type of Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) infection that leads to pre-malignant lesions and progress to cancer.
This condition usually takes ten to thirty years to happen. Thus, there is a long window of opportunity for cervical lesions to be screened, detected and treated early, long before it leads to cancer.
Copyright 2008. Cervical Cancer Prevention Network Program. All rights reserved.
