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Abstract 【Background】 The incidence of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia is increasing in Japan. Human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination and cancer screening are crucially involved in the prevention of cancer-related mortality. However, in 2022, the cervical cancer screening rate in Japan was only ≈43.6%. This study aimed to conduct an epidemiological analysis of cervical cancer by collecting data from individual patients. 【Methods】A questionnaire survey was administered to patients who visited our hospital between January 2017 and July 2023 due to abnormal cervical cytological findings or a cancer diagnosis. Patients answered questions regarding their history of cervical cancer screening as well as knowledge of HPV and cervical cancer. 【Results】During the study period, 471 patients participated in the survey, with 35 declining to participate. Patients with Stage 1b1–4b primarily sought medical attention due to self-reported symptoms (P<0.001); however, they were less likely to have undergone cervical cancer screening (P<0.001). Additionally, older patients were less likely to be aware of the association of HPV with cervical and other cancers. Notably, 28 out of 129 patients with stage 1b1–4b cancer underwent cervical cancer screening within 2 years. The tumor location within the endocervical canal emerged as a significant factor contributing to false-negative results; further, non- squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) histology was another possible factor. 【Conclusions】Our findings suggest the need to widely disseminate information regarding the significance of cancer screening in order to increase cancer screening rates. Moreover, it is important to establish strategies for minimizing false-negative results in screening for non-SCC and endo-cervical canal tumors.
Nakamura et al. (Tue,) studied this question.