How is HPV related to cervical cancer?
Almost all (>99 percent) cervical cancers are related to HPV. Of these, about 70 percent are caused by HPV types 16 or 18. About 500,000 pre-cancerous cell changes of the cervix, vagina, and vulva are diagnosed each year in the US, and over half are related to HPV 16 and 18. Low-grade cervix cell changes are caused by a variety of HPV types, including 16, 18, 6, or 11. Although nearly all cervical cancers are related to HPV, most genital HPV infections do not cause cervical cancer. Most people who test positive for genital HPV DNA in research studies eventually test negative, often within 6 to 12 months. Scientists are still not sure whether this means that a person’s immune system has completely destroyed all of the HPV or has only suppressed the infection to an extremely low level (too low to be detected by available tests). If even a few cells of the cervix still contain HPV, it’s possible that the virus may start to become active again if your immune system becomes very weakened. I
Almost all (more than 99 %) cervical cancers are related to HPV. Of these, about 70% are caused by HPV types 16 or 18. About 500,000 pre-cancerous cell changes of the cervix, vagina, and vulva are diagnosed each year in the United States, and over half are related to HPV 16 and 18. Low-grade cervix cell changes are caused by a variety of HPV types, including 16, 18, 6, or 11. Although nearly all cervical cancers are related to HPV, most genital HPV infections do not cause cervical cancer. Most people who test positive for genital HPV DNA in research studies eventually test negative, often within 6 to 12 months. Scientists are still not sure whether this means that a persons immune system has completely destroyed all of the HPV or has only suppressed the infection to an extremely low level (too low to be detected by available tests). If even a few cells of the cervix still contain HPV, it’s possible that the virus may start to become active again if your immune system becomes very weake
Almost all (more than 99%) cervical cancers are related to HPV. Of these, about 70% are caused by HPV types 16 or 18. About 500,000 pre-cancerous cell changes of the cervix, vagina, and vulva are diagnosed each year in the United States, and over half are related to HPV 16 and 18. Low-grade changes in the cells of the cervix are caused by a variety of HPV types, including 16, 18, 6, or 11. Low-grade changes most often go away without treatment, although if they grow into warts doctors may remove them. But low-grade changes may be caused by some high-risk HPV types (as well as low-risk ones), and doctors who find low-grade changes often do more testing. Nearly all cervical cancers are related to HPV, but most genital HPV infections do not cause cervical cancer. In research studies, most people who test positive for genital HPV DNA test negative later on, often within 6 to 12 months. Scientists are still not sure whether this means that a person’s immune system has completely destroyed a
Certain strains of HPV can cause changes in the cells of the cervix, a condition called cervical dysplasia. If untreated, dysplasia can progress to cervical cancer. HPV is almost always the cause of cervical cancer. However, just because a woman has HPV or cervical dysplasia does not necessarily mean she will get cervical cancer. Regular Pap tests are the best protection against cervical cancer. The test can detect almost all precancerous changes and cervical cancer. Cervical cancer is almost always preventable or cured if precancerous changes are detected and treated early, before cancer develops. Before age 30, HPV infection is transient (self-limiting). By age 30, detection of HPV during Pap smear screening can be used to help determine the appropriate interval for screening. The absence of high-risk HPV types indicates that a woman is at low risk for developing cervical changes related to the risk of cervical cancer. In this case, the interval of Pap test screening might be every t
