The natural history of carcinoma of the cervix in young women

Invasive carcinoma of the cervix was treated in 1 522 patients over a 10-year period at Groote Schuur Hospital. Data for each patient included place of residence, pathological characteristics of the tumour, nodal spread, histological evidence of human papillomavirus (HPV) infection, disease stage, treatment type, treatment complications, site of recurrence and survival time. Patients aged under 35 years comprised 11,6% of the total patient group. A retrospective cohort study compared women aged under 35 years of age at the time of entry into the study and women aged 35 years or more