Cervical Cancer Working Group Report

Cancer Information Section/Data Analysis and InterpretationGroup, International Agency for Research on Cancer, Lyon, France*For reprints and all correspondence: Ryo Konno, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Jichi MedicalUniversity Saitama Medical Center, 1-847 Amanumacho, Ohmiya-ku, Saitama 330-8503, Japan.E-mail: kryo772007@yahoo.co.jpDisease burden of cervical cancer in Asia was summarized. Human papillomavirus 16 isthe most oncogenic human papillomavirus type. Korea’s national cervical cancer screeningprogram targets women aged 30 or over, with coverage of almost 80%. Japan has a longhistory (50 years) of cervical cancer screening, and cytological screening programs havereduced the incidence/mortality of cervical cancer by 70%. But, recent cervical cancerscreening coverage is 24%. Modeling suggested that vaccination of all 12-year-old girlswould reduce cervical cancer cases by 73% in Japan. India has no cervical cancer screen-ing program, as well as a serious lack of awareness in the general population, medicalprofessionals and policy-makers. A realistic, affordable approach would be a low-volume,once-in-a-lifetime human papillomavirus-based screening program. In Australia, the nationalcervical cancer program has been very successful in reducing the incidence and mortalityof cervical cancer. Australia was the first country to implement free, national humanpapillomavirus immunization (April 2007), expected to reduce human papillomavirus 16infections by 56% in 2010 and 92% in 2050. A comparison of the UK and Japan wasdemonstrated that in the UK, cervical cancer screening and human papillomavirus vacci-nation uptakes are high because the government provides adequate education/funding. TheJapanese government needs to put more emphasis on women’s health and preventativemedicine. Our conclusion and recommendations are that heightened public awarenessof cervical cancer prevention, focusing on screening and vaccination will lead to improvedsurvival and a better quality of life.Key words: cervical cancer – human papillomavirus – screening – vaccination – prevention