Cervical Cancer and Human Papilloma Virus

There is a good evidence for a connection between cervical cancer and human papilloma virus. Cervical cancer strikes about half a million women all over the world and kills nearly half of them. There have been conducted a lot of medical researches to find out its causes and the ways of prevention. It is shown that the main risk factor of cancerous lesions on the cervix is the presence of human papilloma virus.

Human papilloma virus is a highly contagious infection and about one third of adult people are carriers of this virus. This virus resides in the cells of the skin and mucosal membranes and it is able to cause different pathological conditions. Some diseases induced by human papilloma virus are dangerous for the woman’s reproductive health. The essential purpose of screening for cervical cancer and human papilloma virus is to find these conditions early which allows to perform a more effective and less expensive treatment.

Not all types of human papilloma virus can trigger the development of cancerous lesions. Only a few types known as high risk types induce cell changes which may degenerate into malignancy. In majority of cases these types are detected in the genital area and are spread sexually. The diagnostics of cervical cancer and human papilloma virus associated genital diseases is difficult because women rarely have obvious signs of these conditions.

Cervical cancer and human papilloma virus infection may be detected by various tests. The presence of abnormal changes in the cervical cell may be revealed by a test called Pap smear. If, starting from the results of Pap smear, health the care provider suspects the presence of cancerous lesions, he prescribes colposcopic examination with a biopsy from suspected areas.

Typically, the degeneration of precancerous lesions into cancer takes several years. Cervical cancer is more likely to occur in women with history of unprotected sex with several partners, frequent change of sexual partners, smoking, immune system weakness. These women are considered to be at a higher risk and they need to undergo tests for early detection of cervical cancer and human papilloma virus more frequently than one time a year.