High-risk HPV can be categorized into two main groups, low-risk and high-risk, depending on the degree of pathogenicity or cancer risk of the HPV subtype.
The high-risk HPV types that deserve people’s attention are mainly 16 and 18, as these two are the most important culprits in causing cervical cancer. More than 200 types of HPV have been identified, more than 40 related to genital tract lesions and more than 29 related to cancer, which can be categorized into high-risk and low-risk types depending on the degree of risk.
Among the high-risk types, HPV16 is the strongest cancer-causing viral type. 50% of all cervical cancers are related to HPV16 infection, 10%-20% of cervical cancers are related to HPV18, and the remaining 30% of cervical cancers are related to more than 10 other high-risk types of HPV.
Immediately after HPV infection is detected, medical attention should be sought for TCT and colposcopy to confirm the presence of cervical cytologic changes. If there are no lesions, then drug treatment is available for HPV; if there are pre-cancerous lesions or even cervical cancer, then immediate hospitalization and treatment is required.