# Adenosquamous carcinoma of the cervix

Source: https://onco.cc/cancers/cervical-adenosquamous-carcinoma/  
OnCo record `cervical-adenosquamous-carcinoma` (Cancer). Data CC BY-NC 4.0, attribute "Data from OnCo (onco.cc)"; commercial use needs a licence.

## TL;DR

Adenosquamous carcinoma of the cervix is an uncommon cervical cancer containing both gland-forming and squamous cancer cells. Like cervical adenocarcinoma it is caught less well by smear screening and does somewhat worse than squamous cancer stage for stage, but it is treated the same way, with surgery when early and chemoradiation when advanced.

## Summary

The WHO classification of female genital tumours lists adenosquamous carcinoma among the HPV-associated cervical carcinomas, defined by both malignant glandular and squamous components. Cytology screening often fails to prevent adenocarcinoma; in a case-control study of 12,418 women with cervical cancer in England and Wales, being up to date with screening halved the odds of adenocarcinoma (odds ratio 0.46) and reduced advanced-stage adenocarcinoma more, and the paper treats adenosquamous carcinoma with adenocarcinoma (International Journal of Cancer 2016). In 148 patients with stage I to IVA adenocarcinoma or adenosquamous carcinoma treated with definitive radiotherapy, five-year relapse-free survival was 68 percent for non-bulky IB/IIA, 38 percent bulky IB/IIA, 49 percent IIB, 30 percent III and 0 percent IVA, inferior to squamous cell carcinoma, with distant failure common (Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys 2011).

How it differs from its parent: the parent page covers cervical cancer overall, three quarters squamous; adenosquamous carcinoma shares adenocarcinoma's screening blind spot and its worse radiotherapy outcomes, and its glandular component may raise the risk of ovarian and distant spread.

How common: no separate share in the sources read.

Treatment: as cervical cancer by stage on the parent and its early and recurrent pages: radical hysterectomy for early disease, cisplatin-based chemoradiation with brachytherapy for locally advanced disease, and platinum with pembrolizumab or bevacizumab for recurrent or metastatic disease; no histology-specific trial exists.

## Fields

- Kind: Cancer
- Last checked: 2026-09-24
- Also known as: Adenosquamous carcinoma; Adenosquamous cervical cancer; Mixed adenocarcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma of the cervix
- Tags: subtype-page; wave4; rare
- Group: gynaecologic
- Burden: A minority of cervical cancers grouped with adenocarcinoma in most series; in England and Wales adenocarcinoma has become more common as squamous carcinoma declined under screening (International Journal of Cancer 2016). No separate share is in the sources read.
- Subtypes: HPV-associated adenosquamous carcinoma of the cervix (the usual form); Adenosquamous carcinoma with glassy cell features; Adenosquamous carcinoma, early stage (surgery); Adenosquamous carcinoma, locally advanced (chemoradiation; inferior control to squamous)
- Biomarkers: p16 and HPV status; Both glandular and squamous components on histology; FIGO stage and tumour bulk; PD-L1 for recurrent disease

## Sections of this record

The page is a hub with ten sections in reading order; large sections have their own page. The same plan as JSON: https://onco.cc/api/v1/cancers/cervical-adenosquamous-carcinoma/sections.json

- Overview (on the hub): The TL;DR, the family this cancer belongs to, the organ, who gets it and what the state of the art is. https://onco.cc/cancers/cervical-adenosquamous-carcinoma/#overview
- What it is (on the hub): Anatomy, the subtypes and how they differ, how it is staged, and where advanced disease spreads. https://onco.cc/cancers/cervical-adenosquamous-carcinoma/#what-it-is [4 subtypes]
- Finding it (on the hub): How it shows itself, how it is confirmed, what screening exists, and the biomarkers clinicians test for. https://onco.cc/cancers/cervical-adenosquamous-carcinoma/#finding-it [4 biomarkers]
- Treating it (on the hub): The standard of care by setting, the medicines, surgery and radiotherapy named in it, and the regimens behind them. https://onco.cc/cancers/cervical-adenosquamous-carcinoma/#treating-it [1 setting, 1 decision with options]
- Evidence (on the hub): Trials recruiting now, the landmark trials, the key papers and what they mean, the latest literature, and the milestones year by year. https://onco.cc/cancers/cervical-adenosquamous-carcinoma/#evidence
- The science (on the hub): The molecular landscape: the targets and how often each appears, the pathways, the mechanics stages and the preclinical models. https://onco.cc/cancers/cervical-adenosquamous-carcinoma/#science [2 targets]
- Where you are (own page): Cases by country, the UK and NHS pathway and other country lenses, and the expert centres with trials on record. https://onco.cc/cancers/cervical-adenosquamous-carcinoma/where-you-are/
- Living with it (on the hub): The decisions you may face, the aids that walk through them, the warnings on record, the first sixty days and the questions to ask. https://onco.cc/cancers/cervical-adenosquamous-carcinoma/#living-with-it [8 questions, 6 red cards]
- What is coming (own page): Everything in development, the open problems and what is being done about them, the roadmaps, and what changed on this record. https://onco.cc/cancers/cervical-adenosquamous-carcinoma/coming/ [3 medicines]
- Data (own page): Every connected record, the notes, the JSON, Markdown and RDF twins, and where the record came from and when it was checked. https://onco.cc/cancers/cervical-adenosquamous-carcinoma/data/ [18 connected records]

## Standard of care

- All stages: Treated as cervical cancer by stage: radical hysterectomy when early, cisplatin chemoradiation with brachytherapy when locally advanced, platinum with pembrolizumab or bevacizumab when recurrent. ([Cervical cancer](https://onco.cc/cancers/cervical/), [Early cervical cancer and fertility-sparing surgery](https://onco.cc/cancers/early-cervical-cancer/), [Recurrent or metastatic cervical cancer](https://onco.cc/cancers/recurrent-metastatic-cervical-cancer/), [Cisplatin](https://onco.cc/drugs/cisplatin/), [Pembrolizumab](https://onco.cc/drugs/pembrolizumab/), [Bevacizumab](https://onco.cc/drugs/bevacizumab/), [Brachytherapy](https://onco.cc/technologies/brachytherapy/))

## Sources

- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cervical_cancer
- NCI PDQ: cervical cancer treatment: https://www.cancer.gov/types/cervical/treatment
- International Journal of Cancer 2016: is cervical screening preventing adenocarcinoma and adenosquamous carcinoma of the cervix?: https://doi.org/10.1002/ijc.30152
- Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys 2011: outcome of adenocarcinoma and adenosquamous carcinoma of the cervix after definitive radiotherapy, 148 patients: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijrobp.2010.02.009

## Connected records

- cancers: [Cervical cancer](https://onco.cc/cancers/cervical/), [Early cervical cancer and fertility-sparing surgery](https://onco.cc/cancers/early-cervical-cancer/), [Recurrent or metastatic cervical cancer](https://onco.cc/cancers/recurrent-metastatic-cervical-cancer/), [Small cell neuroendocrine carcinoma of the cervix](https://onco.cc/cancers/cervical-small-cell-neuroendocrine-carcinoma/), [Vaginal adenocarcinoma (including DES-associated clear cell adenocarcinoma)](https://onco.cc/cancers/vaginal-adenocarcinoma/)
- technologies: [Brachytherapy](https://onco.cc/technologies/brachytherapy/)
- drugs: [Bevacizumab](https://onco.cc/drugs/bevacizumab/), [Cisplatin](https://onco.cc/drugs/cisplatin/), [Pembrolizumab](https://onco.cc/drugs/pembrolizumab/)
- terms: [Chemoradiation (chemoradiotherapy, CRT)](https://onco.cc/terms/chemoradiation/), [HPV-positive (p16) head and neck cancer](https://onco.cc/terms/hpv-p16/)

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JSON: https://onco.cc/api/v1/entities/cervical-adenosquamous-carcinoma.json