Update on Cervical Cancer Prevention and Screening

Dear Colleagues,

Cervical cancer of the uterus is a neoplasia in which the scientific progress has produced an impressive reduction in the incidence and mortality.

This is particurlaly linked with several development in the knowledge of the natural history of the disease:

• The patogenetic role of HPV infection has been definivelly well established with a clear multistep process of development;
• ● The organized population based cervical cancer screening programmes at national and regional level have produced an increasing detection of dysplasic and early invasive lesions particularly in young women;
• ● Introduction of HPV- high risk test as primary screening test has produce an anticipation of the detection of the dysplasic lesions;
• ● More conservative treatments have been proposed for the screen-detected lesions with consequent respect of the anatomo-functional integrity of the uterine cervix;
• ● Recently some markers of progression may be identified aiming to select which lesion requires follow-up istead of immediate treatment;
• ● Vaccination agaist HPV has been introduced in many western countries with an expected further reduction in the incidence of the disease;
• ● The first cohorts of vaccinated girls have reached the age of screening programme and the consequance of this implies a substantial changes in the strategies of the screening programme in term of organization, test to adopt, frequancy and interpretation of the results.

The special issue of the journal will offer to the readers the highlights of the researches in the field presented by authors with recognized international experience and reporting, in some part, the actual position of the national group of cervical screening programmes in Italy.

Prof. Dr. Tiziano Maggino and Dr. Vasilios Pergialiotis

Guest Editors