Study finds incidence of cervical cancer in certain racial/ethnic groups has increased in recent years

The incidence and mortality of cervical cancer increased in specific racial/ethnic groups during recent years, according to a study published online Jan. 17 in the International Journal of Cancer.

Trisha L. Amboree, Ph.D., MP.H., from The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, and colleagues examined trends in hysterectomy-corrected cervical cancer incidence rates (2000 to 2019) and mortality rates (2005 to 2019) by county-level income and race/ethnicity using Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results data.

The researchers found that following a period of decline, there was an increase of 1.0 percent/year in hysterectomy-corrected cervical cancer incidence among non-Hispanic white women in low-income counties. In this group, there was a statistically significant 4.4 percent/year increase in distant-stage cancer. Among this group and in non-Hispanic Black women in low-income counties, recent increases in cervical cancer mortality were seen (1.1 and 2.9 percent/year, respectively), but trends were not statistically significant.

Distant-stage cervical cancer incidence increased 1.5 percent/year among Hispanic women in low-income counties, but the increase was not significant.

"These findings of increasing incidence, particularly of late-stage cancers, are troubling and call for future research to understand an underlying reason for the rising disparities," the authors write.

"Our findings suggest that the increase may not be an artifact of increased detection of cancers due to the introduction of more sensitive screening tests, but rather may reflect disruptions along the screening and treatment continuum."