Trends in Cervical Cancer Research

Cervical cancer is a malignancy of the cervix. World-wide, it is the second most common cancer of women. It may present with vaginal bleeding but symptoms may be absent until the cancer is in advanced stages, which has made cervical cancer the focus of intense screening efforts utilising the Pap smear. Most scientific studies point to human papillomavirus (HPV) infection which is responsible for 90% of the cases of cervical cancer. There are 7 most common types of HPV-16, 18, 31, 33, 42, 52 and 58. Types 16 and 18 being the most common cause of the cancer. Treatment is with surgery (including local excision) in early stages and chemotherapy and radiotherapy in advanced stages of the disease. This book presents cutting edge research in this study of cervical cancer. This involves, new perspectives in pharmacological treatments, anti-hormonal agents, therapeutic trends for patients, nerve sparing treatments, antibodies in single chain formats, predictors of radiation response, lymphatic mapping and docetaxel labelling with radionuclides.