Cervical cancer staging.

The "International Classification of the Stages of Carcinoma of the Uterine Cervix" dates back to 1950; since then, seven changes have been made to the staging system for cervical cancer (almost all were made to Stage I), the most recent being in 1995. The FIGO system of classification of cervical cancer is originally based on the results of clinical examination, essentially of the anatomical extent of disease, and is determined at the time of primary diagnosis. Only if the rules for clinical staging are strictly observed is it possible to compare results using different modalities of treatment. Cervical cancer remains a clinically staged malignancy according to the FIGO staging system. Surgical-pathologic staging would not be feasible for advanced-stage disease or in early-stage patients treated primarily with radiation, especially in nations that do not routinely offer surgical extirpation due to different or limited health care resources. However, surgical and pathological data are important for precise analysis of survival and prognostic risk factors.