HPV is a virus that causes Cervical Cancer.
What is HPV?
HPV stands for human papillomavirus, which is a group of over 100 viruses. Different types of HPV cause different types of infections. Most people will get a HPV infection during their lifetime, from sexual activity. Most of these infections do not need treatment but they can cause genital warts and other skin infections. In some women, however, HPV causes changes in the cervix that can develop into cervical cancer.
How is HPV transmitted?
HPV can be transmitted during sexual intercourse or genital contact with an infected person. Transmission from mother to baby can also occur immediately before or after birth.
What is cervical cancer?
Cervical cancer is a cancer of a woman’s cervix, the entrance to the womb. Each year in Ireland about 250 women get cervical cancer and 80 women die from it. Cervical cancer is caused by HPV infection.
How does HPV infection cause cervical cancer?
HPV can infect the cells on the surface of the cervix and damage them, causing their appearance to change and lead to abnormalities in these cells over a number of years.
These abnormalities are known as Cervical Intraepithelial Neoplasia (CIN) These changes can be classified according to their severity.
Mild lesions are known as CIN 1 and severe lesions are described as CIN 2/3. In some cases these more severe lesions can develop into cervical cancer
The progression of mild and severe lesions to cancer takes many years so these abnormalities are known as pre-cancerous.
HPVs associated with cancer are called oncogenic or 'high risk' types. HPVs that do not cause cancer are termed 'low risk' types. Two of these 'low risk' types cause most genital warts. HPV types are referred to by number (the numbers refer to the order in which they were discovered).
Two types (16 and 18) cause 7 out of 10 cervical cancers.
How common is cervical cancer?
Worldwide cervical cancer is the second most common cancer in women with an estimated 520,000 new cases and 274, 000 deaths in 2008
Can cervical cancer be prevented?
Cervical screening can detect pre-cancerous lesions and cervical cancer at an early stage when treatment can be successful. In countries where there are cervical cancer screening programmes there has been a marked decrease in cervical cancer.
Where can I find out more about the National Cervical Screening Programme?
More information on the cervical screening programme is available at http://www.cervicalcheck.ie/.
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FURTHER INFORMATION
Further information regarding HPV, cervical cancer and HPV vaccine can be found on the following websites.
Last updated on: 05 / 04 / 2012