Essay about Human Papillomavirus and Cervical Cancer

Cervical cancer is when there are malignant cells present in the cervix; it is developed in the lining of the cervix. A cervix is a narrow opening located at the bottom of the uterus that leads into the vagina. Cervical cancer mostly affects women between the ages of 40 and 55. This cancer can be prevented by screening for precancerous cells, and it can also be cured if it is detected at an early stage. Over the past few decades the number of cervical cancer cases has declined dramatically due to a more widespread screening of the disease. Today, it is estimated that 10,000 new

Cervical cancer is caused by the uncontrollable growth of cells in the cervix, the lower part of the uterus that opens into the vagina. Some signs of cervical cancer are abnormal bleeding in the vagina (between menstrual cycles, after sex, and after menopause), pain in the lower belly, pain during sex, and abnormal vaginal discharge.

Cervical cancer has a major impact on women’s lives; it is the second most common cause of cancer-related diseases and death among women worldwide. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (2010), cervical cancer is the cancer that forms in tissues of the cervix. The cervix is the lower, narrow end of the uterus that connects the vagina to the upper part of the uterus. Cervical cancer is a slow-growing cancer that may not cause any symptoms at first but may cause pelvic pain or bleeding from the vagina later. It is mostly caused by a human papillomavirus (HPV) infection. HPV is a common virus that is passed from one person to another during sexual activity (Center for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC], 2010).

Cervical cancer is a typically slow-growing type of gynecologic carcinogenesis caused predominantly by persistent infection with the human papillomavirus (HPV), most commonly the high-risk genotypes HPV-16 and HPV-18.3 Cervical cancer typically originates in the transformation zone of the cervix, where there is a junction of ectocervix and endocervix. The most common type of cervical carcinoma is squamous cell carcinoma and makes up 70-80% of cervical cancers. This type of cervical cancer occurs in the squamous cells of the ectocervix. The second most common type is an adenocarcinoma, occurring in glandular cells of the endocervix, and makes up 10-15% of cervical cancers. Cervical cancers can also be a mixture of dysplastic squamous cells and glandular cells; this type of carcinoma is termed adenosquamous carcinoma and makes up 1-2% of cervical cancers. The final type of cervical cancer is associated with HPV-6 rather than HPV-16 or HPV-18. It is termed verrucous squamous carcinoma and is very rare.5, 6

HPV is “the most common viral infection of the reproductive tract” (WHO). It is also what lead to the development of Henrietta’s cervical cancer. HPV is the most common cause of cervical cancer. The HPV types 16 and 18 are responsible for almost all cases of cervical cancer.

HPV has been a frequent sexual transmitted disease among women. HPV in women has been identified as causing cervical cancer. There have been several strains of HPV, which has been linked to cervical cancer. The virus can survive for years until some of the cells of the cervix develop into cancer cells. (CDC, 2015) In developing countries, cervical cancer has been the second most common female cancer. There were over 260,000 deaths due to cervical cancer in the developing countries (CDC, 2015).

Cervical cancer is the second foremost occurring cancer in women after breast cancer. Cervical cancer is a sexually transmitted disease caused by the human papillomavirus, or HPV. Infection by HPV typically occurs in the early years of sexual activity according to the World Health Organization (WHO), but it can take up to a full twenty years for it to develop into a full-blown malignant tumor. Scientists believe that for all intents and purposes all cervical cancer cases are caused by infection with a few types of cancer. Great strides have been made in recent years in the development of a vaccine to treat the cervical cancer. Scientists have cultivated a prophylactic vaccine that would protect against the human papillomavirus. HPV's

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the leading cause of cervical cancer remains Human papillomavirus (HPV), a virus that passes from one person to another during sex.” (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2015) . Although HPV is a common Sexually Transmitted Disease (STD), physicians suggest that all women over the age of 21 be tested for cervical cancer

Approximately 95% of cases are the result of HPV. Other cancer types caused by HPV are penile, vulvar, and vaginal. Roughly half of these cases are caused by the virus. Mostly when a person has HPV, it will subside after a couple years. Around 5% of the time, a person can go on to develop cancer. With 10% of women having HPV, regardless of them knowing it or not, 1 out of every 200 infected women can develop a cancer.

Cervical cancer is the cancer of the cells of the cervix. The cervix is the lower part of the uterus that connect the body of the uterus to the vagina. It is made up of two parts: the endocervix and the exocervix. The endocervix is covered by glandular cells and the part of the cervix closest to the uterus. The excocervix is covered in squamous tissue and is the part of the cervix closest to the vagina. The squamous and glandular cells meet at the transformation zone and this is where most cervical cancer. There are 3 types of cervical cancer: squamous cell carcinomas, adenocarcinomas, and adenosquamous carcinomas. Up to nine out of ten cervical cancer is squamous cell carcinomas and starts in the exocervix. Adenocarcinomas develops in the

Cervical intraepithelial neoplasia caused by HPV can clear without treatment, but the rate of clearance varies according to the severity of the lesion; high-grade lesions have a greater rate of progression to cervical cancer (Blackman). Sixty percent of CIN 1 lesions are likely to regress spontaneously, 10% are likely to progress to CIN 3, and only 1% is likely to progress to invasive cancer. For CIN 3, these numbers are quite different: approximately one third of these lesions are likely to regress, and the rate of progression to cervical cancer is greater than 12% if left

More than half of sexually active people become infected with HPV at some point in their lives and whilst most will clear this infection naturally within two years, HPV can cause pre-cancerous cancer cells, which if undetected can develop into cervical cancer over time. In fact, the HPV strains 18 and 16 are the cause of over 70% of cervical cancers cases in women, with over 99% of patients with cervical cancer also having an HPV infection.

Cervical cancer is a disease that mainly affects women in their 30’s and 40’s. Occasionally, it can affect those that are older or younger. Most importantly, this is a cancer that is preventable. Unlike many other cancer screenings, cervical screening looks for changes in the cells that may lead to cancer and not for the actual cancer itself. Cervical cancer is one of very few cancers that can be detected and stopped before it even begins.

Although there are several known risk factors for getting cervical cancer, no one knows exactly why one woman gets it and another doesn't. One of the most important risk factors for cervical cancer is infection with a virus called HPV (human papillomavirus). HPV is a sexually transmitted disease that is incredibly common in the population, one study showed that 43% of college age women were infected in a 3-year period. HPV is the virus that causes genital warts, but having genital warts doesn't necessarily mean you are going to get cervical cancer. There are different subtypes, or strains, of HPV. Only certain subtypes are likely to cause cervical cancer, and the subtypes that cause warts are unlikely to cause a cancer. Often, infection with HPV causes no symptoms at all, until a woman develops a pre-cancerous lesion mostly of the cervix. Because infection with a STD is a risk factor for cervical cancer, any risk factors for developing STD are also risk factors for developing cervical cancer. Women who have had many or several male sexual partners, having sexual intercourse at an early age, or have had male sexual partners who are considered high risk (meaning that they have had several sexual partners and/or began having sexual intercourse at an early age) are at higher risks for developing Cervical

Cervical cancer is one type of cancer happening from the cervix due to abnormal growth of cells. There are many reasons to cause cervical cancer. One of them is that the abnormal cells from other parts of body are able to invade or spread to the cervix and cause the abnormal growth. Unfortunately, in early stage, typically no symptoms are seen, and later symptoms may include abnormal vaginal bleeding, pelvic pain, or pain during sexual intercourse. What’s more, when bleeding after sex, it also may indicate the presence of cervical cancer.7