There are few cancers that have been as intensively studied from the epidemiological and morphological aspects as carcinoma ofthe uterine cervix. Current data suggest that sexually transmitted viral infections may playa major role in the pathogenesis of squamous neoplasias of the cervix and the lower genital tract. The risk of developing squamous cell cancer of the cervix is significantly greater in patients who have been infected by human papillomavirus than in noninfected women. Although infectious dysplasia regresses spontaneously in many cases, it may be an initial step in the natural...