Invasive carcinoma of the cervix in Queensland. Change in incidence and mortality, 1959-1980.

The treatment of invasive carcinoma of the cervix in Queensland has been centralized at the Queensland Radium institute. From 1959 to 1980 inclusive, 2246 patients with this condition received treatment. Analysis of data from this period reveals significant trends towards a decrease in incidence (P much less than 0.001); a decrease in the incidence of stage 1B disease (P much less than 0.001); a decrease in the incidence of stage 2 disease (P much less than 0.001), which is significantly greater than that in the incidence of stage 1B (P less than 0.01); a decrease in the mortality rate (P much less than 0.001); and a decrease in the incidence within all age groups (P much less than 0.001), excepting an increase in incidence within the 20 to 44 years age group in the years 1974 to 1980 P much less than 0.05). The influence of the introduction of the Papanicolaou smear test is discussed.