Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2025 May 9;79(6):410-415.
doi: 10.1136/jech-2024-222564.

Differential impact of cervical cancer in immigrant women: a decade-long epidemiological study in the Marche Region, Italy

Katiuscia Di Biagio  1   2 , Raffaella Bracci  3 , Chiara Peconi  1   4 , Beatrice Gasperini  1   5 , Sonia Manasse  4   6 , Marco Pompili  4 , Donatella Sarti  1   4 , Alice Lanari  1   5 , Emilia Prospero  7   4   5
Affiliations

Differential impact of cervical cancer in immigrant women: a decade-long epidemiological study in the Marche Region, Italy

Katiuscia Di Biagio et al. J Epidemiol Community Health. .

Abstract

Background: Cervical cancer is primarily caused by persistent human papilloma virus (HPV) infections, with significant disparities observed in its burden, especially affecting immigrant populations from high HPV prevalence regions. This study evaluates the incidence and severity of cervical cancer in immigrant women in the Marche region, Italy, from 2010 to 2019.

Methods: We employed a detailed analysis of population-based data from the Marche Cancer Registry using the age-standardised incidence rates (IRs) and Poisson regression models for in situ cervical cancer (ISCC) and infiltrating cervical cancer (ICC).

Results: The IRs for ICC and ISCC among immigrant women are alarmingly higher compared with their Italian counterparts; IR for ICC in immigrant women is 26.5 per 100 000 women-years, compared with 7.9 in Italian women. For ISCC, the IR is 55.1 for immigrants versus 29.2 for Italians.Immigrant women showed a median age at diagnosis for ICC of 49 years, almost a decade younger than Italian women, and they were more likely to have squamous cell histology, which is linked to high-risk HPV strains.

Conclusions: The study reveals a substantially higher incidence of both ISCC and ICC among immigrant women with ICC diagnosed 8 years previously. These findings underscore the pressing need for culturally and linguistically tailored public health interventions, including improved access to screening and vaccination for HPV, to address the elevated risk and earlier onset of cervical cancer in immigrant women in Italy. The study highlights the critical role of preventive measures in reducing health disparities and enhancing the efficacy of public health policies.

Keywords: EPIDEMIOLOGY; Health inequalities; PUBLIC HEALTH.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Competing interests: None declared.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. Age-standardised incidence rate for infiltrating cervical cancer and 95% CIs for italian and immigrant women. Marche Region, 2010–2019.
Figure 2
Figure 2. Age-standardised incidence rate for in situ cervical cancer and 95% CIs for Italian and immigrant women. Marche Region, 2010–2019.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

References

    1. Singh D, Vignat J, Lorenzoni V, et al. Global estimates of incidence and mortality of cervical cancer in 2020: a baseline analysis of the WHO Global Cervical Cancer Elimination Initiative. Lancet Glob Health. 2023;11:e197–206. doi: 10.1016/S2214-109X(22)00501-0. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Rashid I, Cozza V, Bisceglia L. Cancer figures in Italy: an overview. Epidemiol Prev. 2024;48:24–39. doi: 10.19191/EP24.1.A715.018. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Shalaby NA, Tudorescu-Morjan C, Manole CG, et al. Correlation between high-risk HPV infection and p16/Ki-67 abnormalities in Pap samples in a South Eastern Europe cohort. J Med Virol. 2024;96:e29524. doi: 10.1002/jmv.29524. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Arbyn M, Simon M, de Sanjosé S, et al. Accuracy and effectiveness of HPV mRNA testing in cervical cancer screening: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Lancet Oncol. 2022;23:950–60. doi: 10.1016/S1470-2045(22)00294-7. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Mahajan I, Kadam A, McCann L, et al. Early adoption of innovation in HPV prevention strategies: closing the gap in cervical cancer. Ecancermedicalscience. 2024;18:1762. doi: 10.3332/ecancer.2024.1762. - DOI - PMC - PubMed