Cervical cancer in women 25 year old or younger

Abstract

We performed a descriptive, retrospective study on 129 women, 25 years-old or younger, with proven diagnoses of cervical cancer, who were treated at San Vicente de Paul University Hospital, in Medellín, Colombia. We found 81 (62.8%) patients with CIN III and 48 (37.2%) with invasive cervical cancer. There were 122 patients (94.6%) with ages between 21 and 25 years and 7 who were younger than 20. The youngest patient with CIN III was 14 and the youngest with Invasive cancer (1IB) was 16 years old.

Out of 48 patients with invasive cancer there were 29 (60.4%) in steps IIB or IIIB. Treatment of invasive lesions was surgical in the 6 patients with step IA and in 10 of the 11 with IB lesions. Radiotherapy was applied to 27 patients with the more advanced cancers. Four patients who refused radiotherapy were left untreated. Treatment for CIN III was surgical, either conization or hysterectomy, in 68 patients (84%); this shows the need to use conservative approaches with greater frequency for those patients who have not completed their reproductive function. Eighty-two patients (63.6%) were followed up to 50 months, and 47 (36.4%) for longer periods of time, including 4 patients followed for more than 151 months. At the time of this survey 50/81 patients with CIN and 12/48 with Invasive lesions were in good health. Fifty more had been lost to follow-up and 17 were deceased. Complications of radiotherapy were cystitis in 2 cases, pelvic pain and bladder fistula In 2, hydronephrosis in one and multiple complications in one.