All Checked Up

Our opening hours over the Easter Bank Holiday

It's cervical cancer awareness month and to kick start the series of posts on cervical cancer we want to talk about a virus or more accurately a group of viruses called HPV which are responsible for nearly all of cervical cancer cases. We break down exactly what is HPV, the myths and facts and why regular screening is important in order to help prevent cervical cancer.

HPV is actually a common group of viruses that infect the skin and mucous membranes. There are more than 100 types of HPV. Most HPV infections don’t cause symptoms or problems and are cleared naturally by our immune system, but persistent infection and reinfection of some types of HPV can increase the risk of developing cervical cancer.

HPV Is mainly transmitted through skin-to-skin contact, such as through a s*xual partner. Because HPV often causes no symptoms, someone can unknowingly pass it to others.

HPV can be grouped into high risk and low risk depending on their association with development of cervical cancer.

The most important ones to note are HPV 16 and 18, which together cause around 80% of cervical cancers. The rest of cancers are caused by 11 other high risk groups.

The low risk HPV types (like HPV 6 and 11) don’t cause cancer but are associated with other conditions such as genitial warts.

The mere presence of high risk HPV does not cause cancer, because the body often clears the infection naturally within about 1–2 years.

Cervical cancer develops when high-risk HPV infection persists and causes abnormalities in cervical cells over many years. These can progress from mild changes to more serious pre-cancerous conditions and, if untreated, eventually to cancer.

Not all HPV detections mean a new infection — in some cases it can be the reappearance of a previously acquired virus that was below detectable levels.

Cervical screening plays a crucial role in prevention as it tests for the presence of high risk HPV. If high risk HPV is found, further checks can be done to see if there are any abnormal cell changes which can be treated to help prevent cervical cancer from developing.