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The objective to this retrospective study of 341 cases of primary carcinoma of vagina (PCV) diagnosed between 1956 and 1996 was to find whether epidemiological, clinical, and histopathological variables were related to the age at diagnosis of patients with PCV. The univariate statistical analysis showed that younger age at diagnosis significantly correlated with a history of cervical dysplasia, hysterectomy, gynecological infections, and tumors located in the upper part of the vagina, whereas older age at diagnosis significantly correlated with late menarche and exophytically growing tumors. In the multivariate regression analysis, the remaining independent predictors were a history of cervical dysplasia and age at menarche. Further, parity >/=4 as well as nulliparity, smoking, and unstable marital status were more common among patients with PCV than among those in the general Swedish female population. This study indicates that the etiology of vaginal carcinoma may be age related. In young patients, the disease seems to be etiologically related to cervical neoplasia and thus human papillomavirus (HPV) dependent. However, in the most common age group, the older patients, there might be another (probably non-HPV-related) etiology associated with hormonal factors and trauma to the vagina.

Of 788 women treated with ionizing irradiation for benign bleeding disorders (metropathia) 308 (39%) died of cardiovascular disease. In a control group, consisting of 1219 women with metropathia who were not irradiated, 257 (21%) cardiovascular deaths occurred. Although the risk of cardiovascular death in the two studied cohorts compared with national death rates was only 0.92 (lower limit 0.82; upper limit 1.03) and 0.88 (lower limit 0.78; upper limit 0.99) respectively, it was found that women irradiated before the menopause (age 50 years) run a higher risk of cardiovascular death than the controls in the same age group and those irradiated after the menopause.

A cancer registry cohort of 16,704 cases of invasive carcinoma of the uterine cervix and 56,116 cases of in situ carcinomas of the uterine cervix was followed up and second new primary cancers were recorded. The invasive carcinomas contributed 127,118 woman-years at risk and the in situ carcinomas contributed 453,362 woman-years at risk. The main treatment for the invasive carcinomas had been radiotherapy and for the in situ carcinomas, conization and other types of surgical intervention. 767 new primaries occurred after treatment of invasive carcinoma of the uterine cervix, compared with 644.5 expected. O/E is 1.19. After the in situ carcinomas, 1,421 malignant tumors were observed, vs. 1,188.0 expected (O/E 1.19). If, however, cases of invasive carcinoma of the uterine cervix after in situ carcinomas are excluded, the ratio observed/expected is 1.10. For some sites the increased observed/expected ratios were found after both invasive and in situ carcinomas, which speaks for some common carcinogenic effect other than irradiation (for instance, in bronchus and trachea, pharynx, nose, sinus and larynx, but also in rectum, urinary bladder, other female genital organs, pancreas, lymphosarcoma, as well as acute and non-lymphatic leukemia). A lower risk than expected--after both in situ and invasive carcinoma of the uterine cervix--is observed for breast cancer, cancer of the corpus uteri and for multiple myeloma. However, analyses based on time since treatment provide evidence of a carcinogenic effect of irradiation, especially in intensively irradiated organs such as bladder, rectum, corpus uteri and ovary, and also for acute and non-lymphatic leukemia.

During the five-year period 1964-68 96 733 births were registered in the 28 hospitals equipped with maternity facilities in the Uppsala hospital region. Of these babies, 1 636 were born in 818 twin deliveries. Data on gestational age, sex, weight and length at birth, birth order, hospital type, congenital malformations and perinatal mortality are analysed. Altogether 17.3 per 1 000 of the children born during this period were born in multiple births. The perinatal mortality for the twin babies was 64 per 1 000 born, with the mortality higher in the less specialized hospitals than the others. Twin no. 1 suffered perinatal death in 67 cases per 1 000 and twin no. 2 in 60 cases per 1 000. For twins of primiparae the losses were 92 per 1 000 children and for twins born to multiparae 51 per 1 000. Altogether 72 per 1 000 male twins died perinatally compared to 52 per 1 000 female twins. The most heavy losses occurred among the low-weight premature twins and in these cases both twins often suffered perinatal death.

Over the period 1923--72 a total of 305 patients with granulosa-cell, theca-cell tumor and mixed tumor were seen at Radiumhemmet. The commonest symptom was abnormal uterine bleeding. Twenty-three per cent of married women were nulliparous. The menarche seems to have occurred earlier in this group than in the general population. Eight of the granulosa-cell tumor group gave birth to 12 children after treatment for the tumor. Nineteen women with granulosa-cell tumor and 4 with thecoma had received radiotherapy earlier in life for benign lesions. The risk of endometrial cancer was approximately 10 times greater for the women with granulosa- or theca-cell tumor than for the general population. Two hundred and fifty-two patients were given both surgical treatment and radiotherapy. Fifty-three received only surgery (37 granulosa-cell and 16 theca-cell tumors). None of the thecoma patients but 21 per cent of those with granulosa-cell tumor died from their disease. The 5-year survival for the latter group, all stages, was 85 per cent.

Development of in-situ or invasive carcinoma of the uterine cervix was studied among 930,127 women reported to a Swedish Central Screening Register through a record linkage between that Register and the National Cancer Registry. The relative protection against cervical cancer after one negative smear, calculated on incidence level prior to screening, is 14.5 for the first year and drops to 3.4 five years after the screening. The relative protection after two or more negative smears is considerably higher for the first three years but for the years following drops to the same level as after one negative smear.

To evaluate oral contraceptive (OC) use as a possible cause of the changed ratio between adenocarcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma of the uterine cervix a case-control study was performed. The OC use among 23 women with adenocarcinoma of the uterine cervix was compared with that of a matched group of 46 women with squamous cell carcinoma. No differences in percentage of OC use, duration of such use or period of OC use in relation to diagnosis could be demonstrated between the two groups compared.

Papanicolaou screening for cancer of the uterine cervix was introduced in Sweden in the late 1950's. Screening programmes covering the age groups 30-49 years were organized in various countries between 1965 and 1973. The approximate number of smears rose from 100 000 in 1960 to one million in 1970, in a female population of four million. Almost 60 000 cases of in situ carcinoma and 17 100 invasive carcinomas of the uterine cervix were registered in Sweden between 1958 and 1980. The age-standardized incidence of invasive carcinoma fell in this period by about 40%. Within the screened cohorts and age groups, the incidence was reduced by two-thirds and there was a parallel fall in mortality from the disease. At least part of these reductions seemed to be explained by the intensity of screening.

Screening programmes identify a large number of women suspected of having a precancerous lesion of the uterine cervix, necessitating an efficient organization of diagnosis, treatment and follow-up. The ultimate criterion for the evaluation of a programme should be the long-term impact on incidence and mortality. A major problem is lack of uniformity in nomenclature, both with regard to cytology and pathology, as well as observer variation in reading and different standards. The fairly large group of women with mild and moderate atypia in cervical smears creates problems for diagnosis and management that have not been satisfactorily solved. The treatment of precancerous lesions, severe dysplasia and carcinoma in situ has been improved by the introduction of many new methods. A change is occurring from the use of hysterectomy, radiation and big cones towards more conservative methods such as colposcopy-guided biopsies, smaller cones, cryosurgery and laser treatment. This change in treatment techniques does not appear to impair the short-term results of treatment. However, a strong warning is given against using tissue-destructive methods before performing a thorough evaluation of the extent and histopathological nature of the disease. The increasingly large group of women treated for in-situ carcinoma deserves special attention and long-term follow-up, as even after treatment they still represent a high-risk group for invasive carcinoma of the uterine cervix.