What Are the Differences Between Cervical Squamous Cell Carcinoma and Adenocarcinoma?

There are many types of cervical cancer, including cervical squamous cell carcinoma and cervical adenocarcinoma. Cervical squamous cell carcinoma and cervical adenocarcinoma are two different types of cancer. Although the sites of onset and some symptoms are similar, there are still essential differences between these two diseases. For example, there are some differences in the types of viruses infected by the two cancers. Therefore, it is necessary to distinguish them in treatment. So what are the differences between cervical squamous cell carcinoma and cervical adenocarcinoma?

Firstly, patients with cervical adenocarcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma may be infected with different types of HPV viruses. Cervical adenocarcinoma is more likely to be infected with high-risk HPV18, while cervical squamous cell carcinoma is more likely to be infected with HPV16. Of course, other high-risk HPV infections can also lead to cervical squamous cell carcinoma and adenocarcinoma.

The clinical manifestations of the two cancers are not exactly the same. Squamous cell carcinoma patients may have large locally growing tumors in the cervix, which are protruding and visible. Cervical adenocarcinoma patients may also have visible protruding tumors, but cervical adenocarcinoma may grow in the cervical canal and is not easily detected by routine clinical examination in the early stage. In addition, after cervical biopsy, pathologists will distinguish between cervical squamous cell carcinoma and adenocarcinoma, which is the biggest difference.

In terms of treatment, both cervical squamous cell carcinoma and adenocarcinoma meet the surgical indications in the early stage, and both can be surgically treated in stage IIB and below. Compared with radiation, cervical cancer is very sensitive to radiation, and squamous cell carcinoma is more sensitive to radiation than adenocarcinoma. In addition, when cervical adenocarcinoma occurs and the patient cannot undergo surgery, other treatments may need to be combined with radiotherapy, such as chemotherapy. The chemotherapy plan may be different from that for squamous cell carcinoma. In other words, the sensitivity of squamous cell carcinoma to radiotherapy is higher than that of adenocarcinoma.