Pathologist
The earliest stage is the pre-invasive stage, when the cancer has not entered into the underlying tissues. The earlier stages, like micro-invasive, which is like one to three millimetres invasion. Then it spreads to the cervix, to the uterus, or beyond the uterus. So the earlier the stage, the more curative the cancer is. The late stages, of course, were more commonly seen 20 or 30 years ago, when I was in medical school. Nowadays, fortunately, those are very rare. However, that's different in developing countries, where I've done a bit of volunteer work, where unfortunately Pap smear programs do not exist, and therefore cervical cancer women present quite late in life, late with more advanced, aggressive stages of cervical cancer. This is true in countries like Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands and Vanuatu.
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