This information is found on M.D. Anderson’s necervix.com website.

“Because NEC of the cervix is uncommon, the etiology and predisposing risk factors are poorly understood. In one study, when compared to women with the more common squamous cell carcinoma of the cervix, women were slightly younger at the time of diagnosis. The mean age at diagnosis was 49 years-old (compared to 52 years-old). There was also a higher proportion of Asian women with NEC of the cervix, when compared to women with squamous cell carcinoma of the cervix [7].

While the Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) and smoking are now well-known risk factors for developing most other kinds of cervical cancer, less is known about the role they play in development NEC of the cervix. Several studies have demonstrated a relationship between HPV infection and NEC of the cervix [8]. However, unlike HPV-associated squamous and adenocarcinoma (SA) of the cervix which have a preinvasive lesion that can often be detected by routine screening methods prior to growth of an actual cancer, no such preinvasive phase appears to exist for NEC.”

7. McCusker, M.E., et al., Endocrine tumors of the uterine cervix: incidence, demographics, and survival with comparison to squamous cell carcinoma. Gynecol Oncol, 2003. 88(3); p. 333-9.

8. Stoler, M.H., et al., Small-cell neuroendocrine carcinoma of the cervix. A human papillomavirus type 18-associated cancer. Am J Surg Pathol, 1991. 15(1): p. 28-32.

 

Posted in: sccc