Cervical cancer, commonly known as cervical cancer, is the most common gynecologic malignancy. HPV has been listed as a routine screening indicator for cervical cancer and precancerous lesions in many countries, and its typing is of great significance for the screening and treatment of cervical cancer! Next, I have compiled the common HPV-related knowledge in the hope that it will be helpful to you. 1.What are the screening time and items for cervical cancer? Women over 21 years old with more than 3 years of sexual life can consider doing TCT examination; HPV examination is not advocated under 25 years old; people over 30 years old can consider doing combined HPV+TCT screening; patients with suspicious symptoms still need to disregard the age factor. 2. Is HPV infection a disease? HPV infection itself is not a disease. Most infections can be cleared by the body’s own immunity and will not cause any symptoms or affect health. HPV infection alone only needs to be treated with medication, and only persistent infection causing cervical intraepithelial lesions needs to be treated surgically. 3. Can HPV infection affect pregnancy and can HPV be transmitted in utero to the baby? According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), HPV can be transmitted vertically from mother to baby during labor, but this is very rare. In fact, the agency estimates the probability to be about 1.1 in more than 100,000 babies. In these rare cases, HPV infection appears in the infant’s respiratory tract, most commonly causing laryngeal papilloma. Early detection and treatment is the key. 4.Does the patient need HPV typing test even if he has liquid-based cytology test results? Cytology is a morphological test, and now HPV+liquid-based cytology screening is advocated. If there is a significant abnormality in liquid-based cytology indicating a high degree of pathology, further diagnosis and treatment can be made. If the liquid-based cytology is negative or if the cervical atypical squamous epithelium/low-grade squamous intraepithelial lesion (ASCUS/LSIL), HPV typing test is applied for effective triage to improve the sensitivity of detecting high grade lesions, as well as to assess the woman’s risk of developing cervical lesions and to determine the time for the next review. 5. How to understand high-risk HPV persistent infection? Persistent high-risk HPV infection means that women with high-risk HPV infection still test positive for high-risk HPV DNA when they are retested after one year; if the first HPV test result is positive after the age of 30, it can also be considered as persistent HPV infection. Their risk of developing cervical cancer is extremely high and should be taken seriously. 6.Why should I undergo colposcopy directly if I am positive for HPV 16 and 18? The cancer risk of HPV 16 and 18 is much higher than other types. Some studies have reported that HPV 16 and 18 account for up to 70% of patients with cervical cancer and precancerous lesions. Therefore, HPV16 and 18 should be tested directly by colposcopy, regardless of whether the test is negative or positive. 7. If a woman is negative for both HPV DNA and cytology, why can the screening interval be extended by 3 years? Various studies have shown that combined screening for both has a detection rate of almost 100% of cervical lesions without persistent HPV infection and almost no cancer. Moreover, it takes at least 5 to 10 years from HPV infection to cervical cancer, so if both combined tests are negative, the screening interval can be safely extended to 3 years.