This is the third volume in the Essentials of Diagnostic Gynecological Pathology series sponsored by the British Association of Gynecological Pathologists. Focusing on cervical pathology, it provides an update on current diagnostic criteria, the use of biomarkers and specimen handling. It serves as a quick desktop reference facilitating accurate diagnosis, and also provides detailed descriptions and an exhaustive reference list for more in-depth study.

Sections devoted to the changing landscape of cervical screening, current management and future directions are included. Standardized terminology, the biology of HPV-related pre-invasive disease, and the staging of early cervical cancers are discussed.

C Simon Herrington graduated in biochemistry with honours from the University of Cambridge in 1982 and medicine with honours from the University of London in 1985. He trained in Internal Medicine (MRCP 1988) and then became a CRC clinical research fellow in the Nuffield Department of Pathology, University of Oxford, receiving his DPhil in 1991. He was appointed clinical lecturer in pathology in Oxford where he completed his training in clinical cellular pathology (MRCPath 1994). He was appointed clinical senior lecturer in molecular pathology and consultant in pathology at the University of Liverpool in 1995 and was promoted to a Personal Chair in 1999. In 2003, he was appointed to the Chair of Pathology at the University of St Andrews, moving to the Chair of Pathology at the University of Dundee in 2010 and the Chair of Molecular Cancer Pathology at the University of Edinburgh in 2015. He also works as a consultant pathologist, specialising in gynecological pathology, was co-editor of the 4th Edition of the WHO Classification of Tumours of Female Reproductive Organs, and edited the 15th Edition of Muir's Textbook of Pathology. He sits on the Board of the Association for International Cancer Research and is a past President of the International Society of Gynecological Pathologists. He is Editor in Chief of the Journal of Pathology and the Journal of Pathology: Clinical Research. He has a long-standing interest in the molecular pathology and optical imaging of cancer, collaborating with physical scientists to develop molecular imaging approaches to cancer diagnosis.