The Authors analyse the correlations between clinical staging (FIGO) and surgical staging in 152 patients affected by cervical cancer who underwent primary surgical therapy at the Gynecologic Institute of Padua University between 1974 and 1982. In the examined series clinical staging agrees with surgical staging in 2/3 of cases. The error percentage of clinical staging does not change significantly, from a statistical point of view, when staging varies. In those cases in which the two systems disagree the overstaging figure tends to decrease as staging becomes more severe while the clinical understaging figure tends to increase accordingly. On the basis of these results the Authors advocate a rational resort to operative staging in cervical cancer so as to evaluate the real topography of the original focus more accurately and plan the most adequate treatment.