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 2022, 206 Victorian females were diagnosed with invasive cervical cancer. Currently, invasive cervical cancer is diagnosed at a rate of 4.5 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 0.5% of all cancer-related deaths in 2022, invasive cervical cancer was the 18th most commonly diagnosed cancer and the 22nd most common cause of cancer-related deaths in Victorian females.
Trends in cervical cancer over time
For females between 1982 to 1994 the incidence of HSIL/AIS increased by an average of 8.1% per year, between 1994 to 2019 incidence stabilised, and between 2019 to 2022 incidence declined by an average of 16.6% per year.
For females between 1982 to 1994 the incidence of cervical cancer was stable, between 1994 to 2000 incidence declined by an average of 11.3% per year, and between 2000 to 2022 incidence stabilised.
For females between 1982 to 1993 the mortality of cervical cancer declined by an average of 3% per year, between 1993 to 2002 mortality declined by an average of 8.3% per year, and between 2002 to 2022 mortality stabilised.
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, 60.7%, presents as Squamous cell carcinoma 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 7.7 was observed in those born in the North-East Asia region and lowest rate of 2.3 was observed in people born in the Middle East and North Africa 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 1982-1986 and 2017-2021 from 65% to 77%.
