Risk Factors For Vulvar Cancer
A risk factor is anything that changes a person’s chance of getting a disease such as cancer. Different cancers have different risk factors. For example, exposing skin to strong sunlight is a risk factor for skin cancer. Smoking is a risk factor for many cancers.
There are different kinds of risk factors. Some, such as your age or race, cant be changed. Others may be related to personal choices such as smoking, drinking, or diet. Some factors influence risk more than others. But risk factors don’t tell us everything. Having a risk factor, or even several, does not mean that a person will get the disease. Also, not having any risk factors doesn’t mean that you won’t get it, either.
Although several risk factors increase the odds of developing vulvar cancer, most women with these risks do not develop it. And some women who dont have any apparent risk factors develop vulvar cancer. When a woman develops vulvar cancer, it is usually not possible to say with certainty that a particular risk factor was the cause.
Screening And Treatment Of Pre
Cervical cancer screening involves testing for pre-cancer and cancer, more and more testing for HPV infection is performed. Testing is done among women who have no symptoms and may feel perfectly healthy. When screening detects an HPV infection or pre-cancerous lesions, these can easily be treated, and cancer can be avoided. Screening can also detect cancer at an early stage and treatment has a high potential for cure.
Because pre-cancerous lesions take many years to develop, screening is recommended for every woman from aged 30 and regularly afterwards . For women living with HIV who are sexually active, screening should be done earlier, as soon as they know their HIV status.
Screening has to be linked to treatment and management of positive screening tests. Screening without proper management in place is not ethical.
There are 3 different types of screening tests that are currently recommended by WHO:
- HPV DNA testing for high-risk HPV types
- Visual inspection with Acetic Acid
- conventional test and liquid-based cytology
For treatment of pre-cancer lesions, WHO recommends the use of cryotherapy or thermal ablation and Loop Electrosurgical Excision Procedure when available. For advanced lesions, women should be referred for further investigations and adequate management.
How Can Hpv Cause Cancer
You cant catch cancer itself, but HPV passes from person to person and can increase the risk of cancer developing. Most of the time the body clears the infection without it causing any problems.
Sometimes, one of the high-risk types of HPV isnt cleared and stays in the body. If this happens, the virus can cause changes to the DNA inside the cells so they start to behave differently. Over time, the affected cells can start to grow out of control, which can lead to cancer.
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Hpv Vaccination: Preventing Hpv Infection
The HPV vaccine Gardasil 9® protects against infection from nine HPV types: the two low-risk HPV types that cause most genital warts, plus the seven high-risk HPV types that cause most HPV-related cancers.
HPV vaccination is recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention s Advisory Committee on Immunizations Practices to prevent new HPV infections and HPV-associated cancers and other diseases.
HPV vaccination provides strong protection against new HPV infections. Vaccination is prevention and does not cure an infection once you have it. The HPV vaccine is not used to treat HPV infections or diseases caused by HPV. HPV vaccination offers the most protection when given at ages 9-12. HPV vaccination is estimated to prevent up to 90% of HPV-related cancers.
Risk Factors For Hpv Persistence And Development Of Cervical Cancer
- HPV type its oncogenicity or cancer-causing strength
- immune status people who are immunocompromised, such as those living with HIV, are more likely to have persistent HPV infections and a more rapid progression to pre-cancer and cancer
- coinfection with other sexually transmitted agents, such as those that cause herpes simplex, chlamydia and gonorrhoea
- parity and young age at first birth
- tobacco smoking
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Looking To The Future
These findings open interesting new avenues that might lead to new ways of reducing the risk of SCC. The authors write:
T cell-based vaccines against commensal HPVs may provide an innovative approach to boost this antiviral immunity in the skin and help prevent warts and skin cancers in high risk populations.
To treat skin cancer, doctors sometimes use a type of immunotherapy called immune checkpoint blockade therapy. The authors also hope that increasing anti-HPV immunity may improve the efficacy of this type of treatment.
Currently, gut bacteria and the microbiome at large are receiving a great deal of attention. However, research into the virome the sum of all the viruses living on or in our bodies is also beginning to heat up.
As some viruses attack bacteria, thereby influencing bacterial populations, the complex interplay between the two will be difficult to unfurl.
Researchers investigating the role of viruses in human disease, and particularly in
What About The Hpv Vaccine
The HPV vaccine is a safe and effective series of vaccines that can prevent some strains of HPV infection and may reduce your risk of cervical cancer and other HPV-related cancers. For the HPV vaccine to be most effective, the series should be given prior to exposure to HPV, which is why it is recommended for adolescents.
Current guidelines recommend the vaccine for preteens at ages 11 or 12 as well as everyone through age 26 who has not been vaccinated already.
Adults age 27 through 45 years who are not adequately vaccinated may decide to get the HPV vaccine after speaking with their health care provider about their risk for new HPV infections and the possible benefits of vaccination.
HPV vaccine rates in the U.S. are low only about half of adolescents are up to date on the HPV vaccine. A study using U.S. commercial insurance claims data from 2006 to 2012 showed that only 23 percent of healthy people and 21 percent of people with rheumatic disease aged 9 to 26 years started an HPV vaccine series, and only half of these completed the cycle.
There is no contraindication to HPV vaccination for immunocompromised patients. The American College of Rheumatology recommends HPV vaccination for people with RA before starting or currently receiving disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs or biologics, if indicated.
Ask your doctor whether an HPV vaccine is appropriate for you.
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Hpv Vaccine: How It Protects Against Cervical Cancer And Who Can Get It
- BBC
New research has found the HPV vaccine can reduce cases of cervical cancer by nearly 90%.
Cervical cancer is the fourth most common cancer in women around the world, killing more than 300,000 each year.
How does the HPV vaccine protect against cancer?
The HPV vaccine protects against several types of HPV.
They include those causing nearly all cases of cervical cancer, most anal cancers, and some genital and head and neck cancers.
Studies have shown that the vaccine protects against HPV infection for at least 10 years, although experts expect protection to last much longer.
The first major study suggests it is very effective, cutting cases of cervical cancer by nearly 90%.
Who can be given the HPV vaccine?
The HPV vaccine works best if girls and boys get it before they come into contact with HPV.
That’s because the vaccine can only prevent an infection, it cannot rid the body of the virus once it has been caught.
The viruses are so widespread that immunisation has to be aimed at children before they become sexually active.
What is HPV?
HPV is the name for a very common group of viruses.
There are more than 100 different types of HPV and infections do not usually cause any symptoms – although some types can cause warts. These may appear on your hand, foot, genitals or inside your mouth.
Most people, however, will not know they’re infected and their bodies will get rid of the virus without treatment.
Who gets HPV and is it sexually transmitted?
What You Should Know
So what does this mean for patients? Particularly the ones who are at high risk of developing cSCCs. A strong immune system is a critical line of defence against all illnesses, including cancer. For this reason, a completely separate field of oncology, known as immunotherapy has been developed that specifically focuses on boosting your immune system to fight off cancer. This means, if you are immunosuppressed due to certain medical conditions or medications, you should inform your skin cancer physician.
No matter how you have been exposed to HPV, it is good to discuss your diagnosis with your dermatologist. Whether youve had an unusual Pap smear, genital warts, or a blood exam or biopsy that showed you positive for one or more strains of HPV, make it a point to bring it up at your next appointment.
While there are no specific guidelines on how a positive HPV report will affect skin cancer surveillance, its never a bad idea to talk about possible options with your skin cancer physician. You should be sure to maintain consistent doctor visits as well as be aware of what you need to monitor, such as marks that appear superficially harmless.
At the same time, it is important to consider other well-known risk factors for skin cancer, such as exposure to UV rays.
While the issues are somewhat complicated, scientists are using the advancements in the fields of medical science and technology to their advantage and are working hard to find the answers to these important questions.
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How Does Hpv Cause Head And Neck Cancer
We dont know for sure how HPV causes head and neck cancer. Most head and neck cancers caused by HPV are in the throat, in the base of the tongue and the tonsils. Most people who have high-risk HPV wont get cancer. However, some people arent able to get rid of their HPV infection. When this happens, the virus can cause damage that makes a tumor grow. It often takes many years for the cancer to grow. We do not have a test to help predict whether an infection will go away or cause cancer.
Treatment Of Hpv Infection
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Usually laser, electrocautery, freezing, or surgery
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Sometimes various topical treatments
If the immune system is healthy, it often eventually controls HPV and eliminates the warts and the virus, even without treatment. HPV infection is gone after 8 months in half of people and lasts longer than 2 years in fewer than 10%. If people with genital warts have a weakened immune system, treatment is required, and the warts often return.
No treatment for external warts is completely satisfactory, and some treatments are uncomfortable and leave scars. External genital warts may be removed with a laser or an electric current or by freezing or surgery. A local or general anesthetic is used, depending on the number and size of the warts to be removed.
Alternatively, podophyllin toxin, imiquimod, trichloroacetic acid, or sinecatechins can be applied directly to the warts. However, this approach requires many applications over weeks to months, may burn the surrounding skin, and is frequently ineffective. After treatment, the area may be painful. Imiquimod cream causes less burning but may be less effective. The warts may return after apparently successful treatment.
For warts in the urethra, a viewing tube with surgical attachments may be the most effective way to remove them, but this procedure requires a general anesthetic. Drugs, such as thiotepa inserted into the urethra or the chemotherapy drug 5-fluorouracil injected into the wart, are often effective.
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Hpv Warts And The Immune System
What’s happening? University of Miami dermatology professor Robert Kirsner, MD, notes that cutaneous HPV usually is kept in check by the immune system.
“Many people are exposed to cutaneous HPVs. Some develop warts,” Kirsner tells WebMD. “But most people after a while — and we don’t know exactly what ‘a while’ means — develop immunity against them. That’s why warts are more common in children than in adults.”
But isn’t too much sun exposure the most likely trigger for skin cancer? Yes, says Kirsner. For at least two reasons: ultraviolet radiation triggers the transformation of normal cells into cancer cells. And UV radiation also suppresses the immune system in sensitive individuals, perhaps allowing HPV viruses to do their dirty work.
“So if you get this wart virus and are immune suppressed by UVB radiation, you can imagine how a cell could go from normal to carcinoma,” Kirsner says.
But Kirsner and Karagas warn against jumping to conclusions. There’s no proof that HPV truly causes skin cancer. It may be that the same risk factors that lead to skin cancer also lead to more HPV infections.
Even so, Karagas and colleagues note that their findings raise the possibility of preventing common skin cancers by preventing or treating HPV infection.
Do Yale Medicine Doctors Have Special Expertise Relating To Hpv Diagnosis And Treatment
At Yale Medicine, physicians and researchers from an array of fields spanning pediatrics, obstetrics-gynecology, internal medicine, and oncology are active in researching HPV.
These efforts involve clinical research and educational outreach, with the goal of improving HPV vaccination rates in children. Whether its educating specialty physicians and parents about the benefits of the vaccine or testing for cell changes during Pap tests, Yale Medicine doctors are invested in preventing HPV infection and treating HPV-associated diseases.
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How Hpv Infection Leads To Cervical Cancer
Although most HPV infections clear up on their own and most pre-cancerous lesions resolve spontaneously, there is a risk for all women that HPV infection may become chronic and pre-cancerous lesions progress to invasive cervical cancer.
It takes 15 to 20 years for cervical cancer to develop in women with normal immune systems. It can take only 5 to 10 years in women with weakened immune systems, such as those with untreated HIV infection.
How Do I Know If I Have Hpv
Many types of HPV have no symptoms. For women who are sexually active, there is an HPV screening test that can detect the strains of HPV most commonly linked to cervical cancer. During this test, a trained health care professional takes a sample of cells from a woman’s cervix. This sample is tested by a pathologist. A pathologist is a doctor who specializes in interpreting laboratory tests and evaluating cells, tissues, and organs to diagnose disease. HPV testing can be done alone or with a Pap test. Pap tests look for any abnormal changes to the sample of cells taken from the cervix. Often both tests can use the same sample.
All women should talk with their health care teams about HPV testing. There is no recommended HPV test for men.
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Bipoc Communities And Hpv
HPV can infect anyone, but different populations, including Black, Indigenous, and People of Color communities, have been found to have different rates of infection in various areas of the body, as well as different rates of HPV-related cancer.
Such variability may reflect differences in prevailing community behavior, biology, or unequal access to screening tests and medical care.
The CDC reports estimates of HPV infections by race and ethnicity, based on data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey , a cross-sectional survey designed to monitor the health and nutritional status of the civilian noninstitutionalized U.S. population.
The most recent estimates were published in April 2017 and reflect rates from the years 2011 to 2014 for genital HPV and the years 2013 and 2014 for oral HPV among adults ages 18 to 69. Among the findings of NHANES:
- Prevalence of any genital HPV and of high-risk genital HPV was lower among non-Hispanic Asian men and women and higher among non-Hispanic Black men and women than both non-Hispanic white and Hispanic men and women.
- Overall, prevalence of any oral HPV and of high-risk oral HPV was lowest among non-Hispanic Asian adults any oral HPV was highest among non-Hispanic Black adults.
Using data from cancer registries, the CDC has also reported on rates of HPV-associated cancer among Americans of different races and ethnicities for the years 2012 to 2016. Among the findings:
Ways To Prevent Hpv Or Detect It Early
All women can be screened for HPV infection of the cervix with the HPV test, which is done by gently removing some cervical cells with a swab and testing them for the presence of HPV. The test can detect HPV types 16 and 18 and provide broad results for 12 other high-risk HPV types in cervical tissue.
Women who have a positive HPV test should seek advice from a doctor on how best to follow up to prevent cervical cancer. Generally, a positive HPV test will be followed up with a colposcopy if HPV types 16 or 18 are found, or repeat testing in 12 months if types of HPV other than 16 or 18 are found, notes Lab Tests Online.
Cancers in areas other than the cervix are diagnosed by taking a biopsy of abnormal-appearing areas and examining the tissue under a microscope. However, scientists are looking for ways to detect the cancers or precancerous changes earlier. And in some areas, theyre making progress.
In a study published in June 2019 in Annals of Oncology, researchers found that antibodies to the human papillomavirus type 16, which causes a majority of HPV-associated oropharyngeal cancers in the United States, develop in the body between 6 to 40 years prior to a clinical diagnosis of throat cancer, and their presence indicates a strong increased risk of the disease. 31271-2/fulltext” rel=”nofollow”> 5)
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