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Like all other organs of the body, the cervix is made up of different tissues. The outer surface of the cervix is covered with an epithelium consisting of a layer of cells like the skin covering the body. The epithelium is constantly replaced by new, young cells forming at the basement membrane (bottom layer) which, while maturing and getting older, move to the surface where they shed and where they can be picked up with a Pap smear. Both the development of new cells by cell division and the maturation are according to a pre-programmed pattern laid down in the genetic code of the chromosomes.

When cancer-producing agents disturb the genetic coding, abnormal cells develop which, after some time, can form a malignant tumour (cancerous growth). If abnormal cells are found only within the epithelium, the condition is called a pre-cancerous lesion. Once malignant cells penetrate through the basement membrane into the deeper tissue, the condition is called cervical cancer because it may then spread to the rest of the body.

Cervical cancer cells can invade and damage organs near the original tumour, for example, the rectum and/or the bladder. Furthermore, cells from any cancer can break away and enter the lymphatic system or the bloodstream. This is also how cancer of the cervix can spread to other parts of the body, such as nearby lymph nodes, the bones of the spine, and the lungs. The new tumour which forms in a distant organ is called a metastasis and once cancer has spread from its original location, one speaks of a metastatic disease.

When a metastasis develops in another part of the body, the new tumour has the same kind of abnormal cells and the same name as the original (primary) cancer. For example, if cervical cancer spreads to the bones, the cancer cells in the bones are cervical cancer cells. The disease is called a bone metastasis of cervical cancer (it is not bone cancer).

Most cervical cancers are squamous cell carcinomas. Squamous cells are thin, flat cells that form the epithelial surface of the cervix. These cells look like flat paving stones. When cancer develops from the endocervical canal which is lined with columnar cells, the condition is called adenocarcinoma of the cervix. Squamous cell cancers of the cervix are far more common than adenocarcinomas of the cervix.

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