July 19, 2012 -- Women without health insurance are far more likely to receive a diagnosis of advanced cervical cancer, a new study from the American Cancer Society shows.

Lack of health insurance was second only to age as the strongest predictor of advanced-stage disease.

Once a leading cancer killer of women, deaths from cervical cancer in the United States dropped dramatically after Pap test screening became a common practice.

But about 1 in 3 cervical malignancies are still diagnosed after the cancer has spread outside the cervix, and 1 in 10 is found in the disease's latest stages, when treatment is far less likely to lead to a cure.

About 90% of women diagnosed with early-stage disease live for five years or longer after the cancer is diagnosed, compared to less than 20% of women diagnosed in the latest stages, when their disease has spread to distant organs.