Women face cancer 25 years after treatment

STOCKHOLM, Sweden, Oct. 26 (UPI) -- Women remain at risk of developing invasive cancer of the cervix or vagina 25 years after being treated for precancerous lesions, a Swedish study found.

Researchers in Sweden studied data from the National Swedish Cancer Register, which included information recorded from 1958 to 2002 on 132,493 women who had a diagnosis of severe dysplasia/carcinoma in situ, or CIS. CIS is an early form of carcinoma defined by the absence of invasion of surrounding tissues.

CIS isn't cancer but close to it as some cells look cancerous but are superficially in the mucosa -- the soft skin-like layer that lines many body cavities such as the nasal and genital passages -- and not in any tissue.

The study, published in the British Medical Journal, found that 881 women had developed cervical cancer and 111 women had vaginal cancer more than one year after the CIS diagnosis.

Cancer experts said cytological smears should be offered at regular intervals for at least 25 years after a woman has had severe dysplasia/CIS, the study said.