{"id":2704,"date":"2020-12-21T13:43:08","date_gmt":"2020-12-21T13:43:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.aqualab.pt\/?post_type=knowledge&#038;p=2704"},"modified":"2020-12-21T17:59:18","modified_gmt":"2020-12-21T17:59:18","slug":"human-papillomavirus-and-cervical-cancer","status":"publish","type":"knowledge","link":"https:\/\/aqualab.pt\/en\/knowledge\/human-papillomavirus-and-cervical-cancer\/","title":{"rendered":"Human Papillomavirus and Cervical Cancer"},"content":{"rendered":"<noscript class=\"loading-lazy\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"427\" src=\"https:\/\/www.aqualab.pt\/files\/uploads\/2020\/06\/05_FAQs_HPV-16-1024x427.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-2109\" srcset=\"https:\/\/aqualab.pt\/files\/uploads\/2020\/06\/05_FAQs_HPV-16-1024x427.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/aqualab.pt\/files\/uploads\/2020\/06\/05_FAQs_HPV-16-300x125.jpg 300w, https:\/\/aqualab.pt\/files\/uploads\/2020\/06\/05_FAQs_HPV-16-768x320.jpg 768w, https:\/\/aqualab.pt\/files\/uploads\/2020\/06\/05_FAQs_HPV-16.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/noscript>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-kobu-custom-blocks-responsive-spacer responsive-spacer size-medium\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-kobu-custom-blocks-table-of-contents table-of-contents-wrapper\"><nav aria-label=\"Table of contents\" class=\"table-of-contents-nav\"><div class=\"table-of-contents\"><ul class=\"no-bullet\"><li><a class=\"table-of-contents-link anchorlink\" href=\"#1-what-is-hpv-1\">1. What is HPV?<\/a><\/li><li><a class=\"table-of-contents-link anchorlink\" href=\"#2-what-is-the-link-between-cervical-cancer-and-hpv-2\">2. What is the link between cervical cancer and HPV?<\/a><\/li><li><a class=\"table-of-contents-link anchorlink\" href=\"#3-when-are-hpv-tests-recommended-3\">3. When are HPV tests recommended?<\/a><\/li><li><a class=\"table-of-contents-link anchorlink\" href=\"#4-what-kind-of-results-can-i-expect-from-hpv-tests-4\">4. What kind of results can I expect from HPV tests?<\/a><\/li><li><a class=\"table-of-contents-link anchorlink\" href=\"#5-how-important-is-it-to-know-what-type-of-hpv-causes-the-infection-5\">5. How important is it to know what type of HPV causes the infection?<\/a><\/li><li><a class=\"table-of-contents-link anchorlink\" href=\"#6-is-knowing-the-type-of-hpv-clinically-relevant-6\">6. Is knowing the type of HPV clinically relevant?<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/div><\/nav><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-kobu-custom-blocks-responsive-spacer responsive-spacer size-medium\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"1-what-is-hpv-1\">1. What is HPV?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>HPV (human papillomavirus) belongs to a group of viruses that infect the cervix. An HPV infection that does not disappear, meaning it becomes persistent, may increase the risk of developing cervical cancer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>There are over 100 types of HPV, of which about 40 can infect the genital tract and are sexually transmitted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Genital HPV infections are usually asymptomatic and heal themselves spontaneously, in most cases. However, there are some HPV infections that can cause cervical cancer, other cancers and genital warts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The types of HPV associated with cancer, are called oncogenic or high-risk types. There are 12 kinds of high-risk HPV types (16, 18, 31, 33, 35, 39, 45, 51, 52, 56, 58, 59) recognized by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-kobu-custom-blocks-responsive-spacer responsive-spacer size-medium\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"2-what-is-the-link-between-cervical-cancer-and-hpv-2\">2. What is the link between cervical cancer and HPV?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>An HPV infection is a necessary cause, although not sufficient, for the development of cervical cancer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Many HPV infections are naturally resolved by the woman&#8217;s body, especially at a young age. However, about 5-10% of these infections may persist, which increases the risk of developing precancerous cervical lesions. If these lesions are not promptly detected and treated, they may progress to cervical cancer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In Portugal, cervical cancer is the 3rd most common cancer among women. It has an incidence rate of around 12.2% and a mortality rate of around 3.6%.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Being informed about the persistence of some types of HPV can be crucial for the risk stratification of women who may develop cervical cancer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-kobu-custom-blocks-responsive-spacer responsive-spacer size-medium\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"3-when-are-hpv-tests-recommended-3\">3. When are HPV tests recommended?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>As suggested by the new consensus for HPV infection and intraepithelial lesions of the cervix, vagina and vulva of the Portuguese Society of Gynecology of 2011 HPV testing is advised:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>For women over 25;<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>After cytology with ASCUS results;<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>For postmenopausal women with LSIL cytology;<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>In post-colposcopic orientation (monitoring) in women referenced by cytology with AGC or ASC-H results.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-kobu-custom-blocks-responsive-spacer responsive-spacer size-medium\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"4-what-kind-of-results-can-i-expect-from-hpv-tests-4\">4. What kind of results can I expect from HPV tests?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>When testing for HPV we can determine:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>The type(s) of HPV present in the body causing an infection;<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>If the infection is caused by HR (High-Risk) or LR (Low-Risk) types.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-kobu-custom-blocks-responsive-spacer responsive-spacer size-medium\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"5-how-important-is-it-to-know-what-type-of-hpv-causes-the-infection-5\">5. How important is it to know what type of HPV causes the infection?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Distinguishing whether an HPV infection is caused by a high-risk or low-risk type is useful to stratify the risk of a woman developing pre-cancerous lesions. To do this, there must be a persistent infection. To determine if an infection is persistent, we must know which type of HPV is causing it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Information on mixed infections, which, depending on the types of HPV, influence the clinical outcome.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Post-treatment monitoring: HPV positivity in post-treatment helps predict possible recurrences of CIN2+ and CIN3+ lesions. This can only be achieved through tests that can determine the HPV type present in the lesion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Monitoring the effectiveness of HPV vaccines (currently, there are HPV vaccines available for types 16, 18, 6 and 11).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-kobu-custom-blocks-responsive-spacer responsive-spacer size-medium\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"6-is-knowing-the-type-of-hpv-clinically-relevant-6\">6. Is knowing the type of HPV clinically relevant?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>It is important to have an HPV test with sensitivity and clinically relevant specificities so that we can effectively detect HPV types in CIN2+ cases or in more severe situations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Recent studies compared &#8220;CLART HPV&#8221; with other HPV tests. It was found that the &#8220;CLART HPV&#8221; has an excellent performance when compared with HC2 (a test with clinical cutoff setting) and it also enables us to detect various HPV types, in single or mixed infections, in a single test.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>1. What is HPV? HPV (human papillomavirus) belongs to a group of viruses that infect the cervix. An HPV infection that does [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":2057,"menu_order":8,"template":"","knowledge_cat":[36,39],"class_list":["post-2704","knowledge","type-knowledge","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","knowledge_cat-clinical-analysis","knowledge_cat-frequently-asked-questions","knowledge-entry"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/aqualab.pt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/knowledge\/2704","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/aqualab.pt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/knowledge"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/aqualab.pt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/knowledge"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/aqualab.pt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/knowledge\/2704\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aqualab.pt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2057"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/aqualab.pt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2704"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"knowledge_cat","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aqualab.pt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/knowledge_cat?post=2704"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}