What does a positive HPV result mean? Is it serious? Does it mean I have cervical cancer?
HPV is a human papillomavirus, which likes to grow on human skin and mucous membranes most and can cause benign or malignant proliferative changes at the infection site. It is also a large family of viruses, with more than 200 types of viruses, 30-40 of which are associated with the reproductive tract. Among the viruses associated with the reproductive tract, they are divided into high-risk and low-risk types, with high-risk HPV often associated with cancer and low-risk HPV associated with reproductive tract warts, such as condyloma acuminata.
If the test result is positive for HPV, it indicates that the patient has HPV infection. First, it is important to check whether the HPV is high-risk positive or low-risk positive.
1, high-risk HPV infection
According to recent data, about 90% of cervical cancer worldwide is caused by 9 or more high-risk HPV types, and the strongest correlation with cervical cancer is the infection of HPVl6 and HPVl8. In addition, high-risk HPV infections, besides causing cervical cancer, may also cause malignant tumors in the vagina, vulva, rectum, penis, and head and neck (e.g., oropharynx) areas.
Therefore, if there is persistent high-risk HPV infection, it should be taken seriously and further tests should be actively performed to determine whether lesions occur.
Regular screening for the presence of lesions is recommended during the 10 years of high-risk HPV infection. If precancerous lesions exist, appropriate treatment can be provided to interrupt the process of cancer development.
2.Low-risk HPV infection
In case of low-risk HPV infection, there may also be no manifestation in the early stage, and it can be removed by self resistance. If there is a reaction, it may grow similar to a small redundant organism, usually a more transparent spiny redundant organism, which can be removed by laser or surgery.
There are also low-risk HPV infections that often cause patients to develop condyloma acuminatum.
In short, if HPV shows positive, there is no need to be too nervous. The reason is that after being infected with HPV, whether it belongs to the high risk or low risk type, it does not necessarily lead to lesions and some patients may also clear the virus through self resistance.
However, if high-risk HPV infection persists, it should be taken seriously. Further testing needs to be aggressively performed to clarify whether lesions are occurring. If it is only inflammation, annual rechecking is sufficient while strengthening one’s resistance.
Reference.
[1]Wang Shaoheng,Zhou Pingyu. Prophylactic human papillomavirus vaccine and its vaccination recommendations [J]. Shanghai Medicine, 2018, 39(23):5.
[2]Li C C,Zhu L. Etiology of cervical cancer and current status of cervical cancer vaccine[J]. Modern medical oncology, 2018, 26(20):4.