Is there a way to detect cervical cancer early? Of course there is, but to understand this, we need to talk about it from the source, first to understand how cervical cancer develops and at which stage we can detect it early and then we need to eliminate it. What causes cervical cancer in the first place? We all know the recently hotly debated researcher Tu Youyou, a pharmacologist at the Chinese Academy of Traditional Chinese Medicine, won the 2015 Nobel Prize in Physiology and Medicine for the remarkable discovery of artemisinin against malaria. Let’s turn the calendar to 2008, when the famous German microbiologist Professor Hansen won the Nobel Prize in Physiology and Medicine for his discovery of human papillomavirus (HPV) as the culprit of cervical cancer. Many scholars later conducted more research on HPV and discovered the family tree of HPV viruses. More than 120 HPV subtypes have been identified, of which more than 30 can infect the genital tract mucosa. HPV can be divided into two subtypes, low-risk HPV: such as 6, 11, 42, 43, 44, of which the most important are types 6 and 11, which are associated with genital tract acromegaly. High-risk HPV: including 16, 18, 31, 33, 35, 56, 58, the most important of which are types 16 and 18, which are closely associated with cervical epithelial neoplasia as well as cervical cancer. Skin-to-skin contact is the most effective way to get infected with HPV So how is HPV contracted? 1. HPV often infects patients through sexual contact and is a common sexually transmitted disease, but without necessarily having a history of sexual promiscuity, skin-skin contact is the most effective route of transmission; 2. It directly infects basal epithelial cells on the surface of human skin and mucous membranes, but HPV infection does not cause an inflammatory response. 3. Perineal skin contact is necessary for HPV acquisition, while sexual intercourse is not necessary; 4. The virus is not transmitted through blood or body fluids (e.g. semen). Cervical cancer is caused by HPV infection, and HPV is mainly transmitted through sexual contact; therefore, in a broad sense, cervical cancer can be referred to as a sexually transmitted disease. HPV infection is the main factor leading to cervical cancer, in addition to some other predisposing factors, including: 1. sexual behavior: multiple sexual partners, early sex (< 16 years old); 2. childbirth factors: early childbirth, multiple births; 3. sexual contact with high-risk men: penile cancer, prostate cancer patients or their ex-wives had cervical cancer; 4. smoking: increase the effect of HPV infection.