Stage at diagnosis and mortality in patients with adenocarcinoma and adenosquamous carcinoma of the uterine cervix diagnosed as a consequence of cytologic screening.

Objective: To determine if cytologic screening is associated with early stage at diagnosis of and decreased mortality from invasive adenocarcinoma and adenosquamous carcinoma of the uterine cervix.

Study Design: We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of all 169 women diagnosed with invasive adenocarcinoma or adenosquamous carcinoma of the cervix in a prepaid health plan during 1988-1994. Differences in stage and survival were assessed in relation to screening history and symptoms.

Results: Among the 169 cases, late-stage disease was present in 19/169 women (11.2%) at the time of diagnosis, and 24/269 (14.2%) women died of the disease during the three-year follow-up period. Women whose cancer was screen detected numbered 48/169 (28.4%) and were less likely to present with late-stage disease than non-screen-detected women: 2/48 (4.2%) versus 17/121 (14.0%) (P = .05). A mortality advantage at three years from diagnosis was associated with screen-detected cancers: 1/48 (2.1%) versus 23/121 (19.0%) (P = .002), and this advantage persisted after controlling for stage at diagnosis.

Conclusion: Invasive adenocarcinomas and adenosquamous carcinomas of the cervix detected by screening are found at an earlier stage and are associated with lower disease-specific mortality than those not detected by screening.