HPV Positive Smokers Have Much Higher Cervical Cancer Risk

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Main Category: Smoking / Quit Smoking
Also Included In: Women's Health / Gynecology;  Cervical Cancer / HPV Vaccine;  Cancer / Oncology
Article Date: 18 Nov 2006 - 9:00 PDT

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A woman who is HPV positive, and smokes has a much higher risk of developing cervical cancer than a woman who is HPV positive and does not smoke. The heavier the smoking is, the higher the risk, say researchers from the Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm, Sweden. The scientists found that women who smoked a lot and had high levels of the human papillomavirus (HPV-16) had a massively higher chance of developing precancerous lesions in the cervix.

You can read about this study in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention, November issue.

Lead author, Anthony Gunnell, said "The risk for developing pre-malignant cervical cancer increases as HPV load increases. Importantly though, it increases more with increasing HPV if you smoke than if you don't."

The scientists examined the medical record of 738 women, 375 of whom had signs of precancerous cervical lesion and 363 were healthy (no lesions). They described the relationship between high levels of HPV and smoking as sinergistic.

The researchers found that:

1. Current smokers who were found to have HPV infection after their first Pap smear are 14 times more likely to have precancerous lesions than current smokers who were not infected during their first Pap smear.

2. Current heavy smokers who were found to have HPV infection after their first Pap smear are 27 times more likely to have precancerous lesions than current heavy smokers who were not infected during their first Pap smear.

3. Women who never smoked who were found to have HPV infection after their first Pap smear are 6 times more likely to have precancerous lesions than non-smokers who were not infected during their first Pap smear.

"Synergy between Cigarette Smoking and Human Papillomavirus Type 16 in Cervical Cancer In situ Development"
Anthony S. Gunnell, Trung N. Tran, Anna Torrang, Paul W. Dickman, Par Sparen, Juni Palmgren, Nathalie Ylitalo
Cancer Epidemiology Biomarkers & Prevention
10.1158/1055-9965.EPI-06-0399
Click here to see abstract online

Written by: Christian Nordqvist
Editor: Medical News Today
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