DNA-Image-Cytometry in progressive cervical intraepithelial lesions

Cervical cancer is one of the most frequent cancer with 470,000 new cases occurring among women worldwide each year, the vast majority of them in developing countries. Of the 230,000 women who die of cervical cancer annually, some 80 percent are from developing countries, where cervical cancer is the most common cause of cancer deaths among women. Cervical cancer screening is a cost-effective way to save lives. Cervical Intraepithelial Neoplasias (CIN) are lesions with an increased probability to later develop into cervical cancer. Its diagnosis in an individual patient unfortunately does not allow predicting progression or regression with sufficient accuracy. DNA-aneuploidy represents the quantitative cytometric equivalent of chromosomal aneuploidy and has been internationally accepted as a marker for neoplastic cell transformation. DNA aneuploidy has been demonstrated as a marker for histologically confirmed and/or prospectively neoplastic development in cervical dysplasia.