Question: What's the Connection Between HPV and Cervical Cancer?
Answer: The Centers for Disease Control or CDC says that although only a few types of HPV are the cause of virtually all cases of cervical cancer. It's important to understand that any type of HPV can cause mild Pap smear abnormalities, however, in the majority of cases, they don't lead to serious consequences. Approximately 30 types of HPV have been identified as genital HPVs. Only about ten types of HPV may lead to the development of cervical cancer. Further, research shows that in about 90 percent of women cervical HPV infection is undetectable within two years of infection and only a small percentage of women experience persistent HPV infection caused by the "high-risk" types of HPV.
Having Pap smears on a regular basis, as determined by your gynecologist, and having any follow-up treatments or procedures helps to ensure that pre-cancerous cervical changes do not develop into cervical cancer. In fact, the majority of women who develop invasive cervical cancer have not had regular Pap smears.
Source: CDC STD Facts
http://www.cdc.gov/STD/HPV/STDFact-HPV.htm
