Cervical cancer is a disease of infectious origin. It ranks second among cancers affecting women worldwide in terms of incidence and first in terms of mortality, primarily in developing countries. In industrialized countries, improved hygiene and living conditions, along with the introduction about fifty years ago of a cytological screening test—the Pap smear—have led to a sharp decline in the incidence and mortality of this cancer. An ideal candidate for screening due to its slow progression and the existence of numerous curable precancerous lesions, this is a cancer that could potentially become a rare disease in France. This document provides an overview of current knowledge (updated in March 2008) on cervical cancer: - its epidemiology (incidence and mortality) in France and its status in Europe and worldwide; - its 5-year relative survival rate; - its natural history from infection with an oncogenic human papillomavirus to invasive cancer. It also presents recommendations and screening evaluation results in France, as well as recommendations for prophylactic HPV vaccines. Finally, it reviews the various classifications used for cervical pathology: the 2001 Bethesda system for cytology coding, the classification used for histology coding, and prognostic classifications (TNM and FIGO). (R.A.)