Cervical cancer increasing in women in their 30s and 40s, new report finds

After decades of good news in the fight against cervical cancer — marked by decades of steady declines in cases and deaths — a new report suggests that some women are being left behind.

Thanks to early detection and treatment, rates of cervical cancer have plummeted by more than half over the past 50 years. Rates are falling fastest among women in their early 20s, the first generation to benefit from HPV vaccines, which were approved in 2006.

HPV, the human papillomavirus, causes six types of cancer, including cervical cancer.

Among women aged 20 to 24, cervical cancer incidence dropped by 65% from 2012 to 2019, according to a report released Wednesday from the American Cancer Society.

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“Cervical cancer is one of the best-understood cancers,” said Dr. Nicolas Wentzensen, a senior investigator in the National Cancer Institute’s clinical genetics branch, who was not involved in the new report. “We’ve made amazing progress and it remains a success story.”

Not all women are benefitting from that progress, however.

At 90 years old, renowned Cleveland Clinic biochemist Dr. George Stark is part of a team working on an ointment that could cure skin cancer.