Nearly 50 per cent of middle-aged women in India were found to have positive cases of
high-risk human papillomavirus (HPV) — the main risk factor for cervical
cancer, says a report from SRL Diagnostics.
Human papilloma virus (HPV) is a group of
viruses that are extremely common worldwide. There are more than 100 types of
HPV, of which at least 14 are cancer-causing (also known as high risk type).
The virus is mainly transmitted through
sexual contact and most people are infected with HPV shortly after the onset of
sexual activity.
Two HPV types (16 and 18) cause 70 per
cent of cervical cancers and precancerous cervical lesions.
Analysis of HPV test reports of 4,500
women pan-India between 2014 and 2018, showed that women aged between 31 and 45
years had the highest percentage of high-risk HPV at 47 per cent.
This was followed by 30 per cent of women aged between 16 and 30
years being affected by the risk.
Cervical cancer accounts for one-third of all global deaths,
with 74,000 deaths occurring annually and is the second leading cause of cancer
deaths among women in India.
However, “cervical cancer is also the only cancer which is
preventable if care is taken in the initial stage”, said B R Das from SRL
Diagnostics in a statement.
“The high mortality rate from cervical cancer globally could be
reduced through a comprehensive approach that includes screening, early
diagnosis and treatment programmes,” he added.
Besides vaccination before girls become sexually active,
secondary prevention can be done by regular cervical smear of PAP smear which
can pick up any abnormal cells in the cervix before they become cancerous.
“While
PAP test is much more likely to miss precancerous cervical disease, HPV testing
is more sensitive for detecting localised infection and marginally less
sensitive for distant infection,” Das noted. – Agencies
