Normally, cells in the body divide at a regular, steady rate. New cells form and take the place of old or injured cells. However, the cells sometimes divide abnormally, growing rapidly and forming a lump. The lump, also called a tumor, can be either benign or malignant. Benign tumors are not cancer and do not invade surrounding tissue or spread to other parts of the body.
Malignant tumors are cancer.
These cells can invade surrounding tissue and spread, or metastasize, to other parts of the body. More than 90 percent of cervical cancers originate in the surface cells that line the cervix. These abnormal cells are called squamous cell carcinomas. Adenocarcinoma, found in about 9 percent of cervical cancers, begin in the glandular tissue. They can be endocervical cell, endometrioid cell, clear cell or adenosquamous cell carcinomas.