HPV Screenings Can Avert Cervical Cancer

New Delhi: The persistent high-risk type of Human Papilloma Virus (HPV), a common sexually transmitted infection and main cause of cervical cancer, has been found positive in 10-15% of women in the age of 30-60 years when screened at AIIMS’ Preventive Oncology Clinic in the last one year.
Cervical cancer is the second most common cancer among Indian women with 1,23,907 new cases and 77,348 deaths estimated in 2020, acccording to Global Cancer Observatory’s data.
The clinic, which runs twice a week at AIIMS, was started in April 2022. It found that of the 493 women tested, 33 tested positive for the high-risk type of HPV in a year. As January marks cervical cancer awareness month, it is a time to shed light on the importance of prevention and early detection of cervical cancer, doctors at AIIMS said.
Associate professor of preventive oncology Dr Pallavi Shukla advised that every sexually active woman (above 25 years of age) should go through HPV tests at regular intervals to help prevent cervical cancer. It may show up in symptoms such as irregular bleeding, post-menopausal bleeding or increased vaginal discharge. More severe symptoms may arise in advanced stages.
“Sometimes, there may be no symptoms at all. Therefore, it is essential that every woman who is sexually active must undergo regular screenings,” she said, adding that HPV test results can be available in one hour and self-sampling is possible only in this method of screening.
Once a screening result is positive, the woman may require further tests, such as colposcopy, with or without biopsy. Any woman identified with a pre-cancer/cancer of cervix must be initiated into prompt treatment, the doctor said.
Research suggests that almost 60% of sexually active individuals will encounter an HPV infection once in their lifetime as the virus spreads through skin-to-skin contact. Doctors said that although over 90% of all new HPV infections go away on their own, some HPV types are persistent and may cause cervical cancer if left undiagnosed or untreated.
While HPV is a family of over 200 low and high-risk genotypes, almost 85% of cervical cancer cases in India are caused by the high-risk HPV 16 and HPV 18 types. The most common high-risk type, HPV-16, alone causes 50% of cervical cancers globally.
Dr Shukla added that almost all cases of cervical cancer are linked to persistent HPV infection. “Cervical cancer is a type of cancer that begins in the cells of the cervix, the lower part of the uterus that connects to the vagina. This cancer usually develops slowly over time, starting with precancerous changes in the cells of the cervix before progressing to an invasive cancer if left untreated,” she said.
According to doctors, early detection through awareness, HPV vaccination and screening presents a crucial opportunity, with a high cure rate when managed in the early stages. The government is also planning to include a cervical cancer vaccine in the universal immunisation programme.