Cervical cancer: changing trends in the Wellington region.

AIM: To identify changes in patient and tumour characteristics of women with carcinoma of the cervix treated through the Wellington Regional oncology unit between 1975-89. METHODS: The medical records of the patients treated between 1985-9 were reviewed. The age and stage of disease was noted in each case and results compared with the previous two 5-year cohorts. RESULTS: Over the 15 year period there was no obvious reduction in the incidence of cervical cancer. There was a significant trend towards women presenting with earlier stage disease. In the 1985-9 cohort, patients less than 40 years old were significantly more likely to present with earlier stage disease, and there was no detectable difference between the incidence of cervical cancer in Maori and nonMaori. CONCLUSIONS: The results indicate that cervical screening has not yet made an impact on the incidence of cervical cancer in the greater Wellington region, and possible reasons for this are discussed.