I am asked almost every day by patients about HPV infection, can HPV infection lead to cervical cancer? What kind of treatment is needed for HPV to turn negative?How is HPV virus infected?What are the symptoms of HPV virus infection …… Once infected, many people will have to carry a heavy burden of thought, therefore, I hope that this article can relieve the misunderstanding and panic in the minds of women infected with HPV virus.
1. What is the HPV virus?
HPV is called human papillomavirus in Chinese and has many family members, more than 100. HPV is divided into high-risk and low-risk types according to the risk of HPV and cancer. Low-risk types such as 6, 11, 42, 43 and 44 often cause benign lesions such as external genital warts, while high-risk types such as 16, 18, 31, 33, 35, 39, 45, 51, 52, 56, 58, 59 and 68 are associated with cervical cancer and cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN), but in fact, HPV 16 and HPV 18 are the main types that cause lesions on the cervix, causing About 70% of cervical cancers are caused by HPV, while about 30% of cervical cancers are caused by other high-risk HPV infections.
2.How is HPV virus infected?
The virus is everywhere, and it is sometimes difficult to say how it is contracted. HPV infection is very common and the probability of being infected by HPV is very high once you start having sex. 40% of women may be infected with HPV virus at some time in their life, but with the strengthening of their immunity, the virus can be cleared by itself. The HPV infection is self-limiting (even without treatment, it will gradually improve and heal) and can turn negative on its own. 50-90% of HPV infections can be cleared by the immune system within a few months to 2 years after infection and will not cause long-term harm. If the body is in a bad state (reduced immunity) and the environment is suitable (multiple sexual partners, unclean sex), the infection will continue for a long time, eventually leading to cervical lesions and even cervical cancer.
About the ways of infection are: sexual transmission route; close contact; indirect contact: through contact with the infected person’s clothing, household items, utensils, etc.; medical source of infection; mother-to-child transmission: is by close contact of the infant through the maternal birth canal.
3. What kind of treatment is needed to turn HPV negative?
There is no oral medication to treat HPV infection, and the local use of interferon in the cervix may have some effect. HPV vaccines are available abroad, namely therapeutic HPV vaccine and prophylactic HPV vaccine (mainly for HPV16 and HPV18).
Most HPV will be cleared by the body’s immune system, and there is no specific drug to treat HPV, so generally HPV infection does not require treatment.
4. Do HPV infections have symptoms?
The actual HPV infection can be manifested as common warts on the skin, perineural warts around the finger and toenails, plantar warts on the foot and plantar areas, filiform warts on the neck and eyelids, and flat warts on the face. External genitalia are mainly warts with papillomatous, cauliflower, granular, and coronary forms. They can have itching in the pubic area, increased leucorrhea or even bloody leucorrhea, and painful or even bleeding during sexual intercourse.
High-risk HPV infection mainly leads to cervical precancer and cervical cancer. Generally, there are no obvious symptoms in the early stage of the lesions, and changes in leukorrhea can occur, mostly detected during cervical cytology and colposcopy. Contact bleeding (such as vaginal bleeding after sexual intercourse or gynecological examination), vaginal bleeding, vaginal fluid, and symptoms such as pain, swelling of lower limbs and anuria can occur in the advanced stage.
5.Can I get cervical cancer from HPV infection?
HPV infection can only cause precancerous lesions of the cervix and cervical cancer if there is a long-term, persistent, high-load infection. Usually, the same high-risk HPV virus continues to be infected for 10 years before cervical lesions develop. Cervical lesions have a long way to go from CIN grade I, to CIN grade II, to CIN grade III, to cervical carcinoma in situ, to cervical invasive carcinoma. Generally speaking, it takes 10-15 years to develop from CIN to invasive cancer, but about 50% develop into invasive cancer within 5 years.
6.When is HPV testing performed?
If the thin layer liquid-based cytology of the cervix (i.e., TCT) suggests atypical squamous cells of undetermined significance (called ASCUS) or a higher degree of lesion, then HPV testing should be performed. If the HPV is negative, there is no need to be nervous, just recheck the TCT after six months; if the HPV is positive, further examination is needed to do colposcopy and biopsy.
7. Can I get pregnant after HPV infection?
If a woman who is planning to get pregnant is infected with HPV, it is recommended to get pregnant after the HPV value is significantly lowered. HPV values that are very low usually do not affect the pregnancy outcome. The actual fact is that if you’ve got a low risk HPV infection that leads to warts, you need to treat it and then get pregnant, and the lesions of warts will grow rapidly after you get pregnant.
In general, HPV infection is usually found in the nerve roots and skin layer of the perineum and does not usually lead to a spreading infection or invade the blood system, so it has no effect on the fetus. The greatest impact on the fetus is during delivery, when the disease can be transmitted to the baby through the birth canal. Therefore, attention should be paid to the situation during delivery, and it is recommended to choose a cesarean section if necessary under the guidance of a doctor.
In conclusion, even if you are infected with HPV virus, you do not need to be overly nervous, but you need to pay attention and concern, and regular review under the guidance of doctors can prevent the occurrence of cervical cancer.