The Link Between Sexual Contact And Cervical Cancer I Didn't Know About!

Getting a smear test in the UK is something that a lot of women fear, including me! I didn’t go to get my first Smear until I was 30. I was first invited when I was 25, but never went. To be honest, I didn’t go out of fear. For myself, it wasn’t fear of the test itself; it was the results. Some just find it uncomfortable, and some find it too terrifying to know the results. A lot of women in the UK who need to have the smear test simply think they need to go just to see if they have cervical cancer. This is what I thought. But I think the real, deep truth behind it isn’t shown enough. When I found out about HPV and cervical cancer, I was lost. I felt really silly that I didn’t know what HPV was and how it could cause cancer. I was told this by my doctor during my appointment. Not knowing this made the wait for my results even worse! I kept thinking to myself, " Have I done something wrong? Have I done something that could have given me cancer? The fear of this whole situation quickly prompted me to have this discussion with other women I knew, and I realised I wasn’t alone. A quick Google search can tell you everything you want to know, but why is it not put out there straight away? Women are being told all this information during routine checkups, but what about those who haven’t attended because they're simply too scared to go, or for whatever reason? I would have gone to my cervical screening a lot sooner if I'd known this information.

I was never made aware that sexual contact can increase the chances of getting cervical cancer. HPV (The Human papillomavirus) is something that you contract from having skin-to-skin contact. It can be passed through something as simple as giving birth. However, the most common way that HPV is passed around is during sexual contact. This doesn’t just include penetrative sex; it also includes anal, oral and non-penetrative sex.

I would like to state very clearly that, from what I have been told and extensive research, HPV is actually really common. A lot of people get the HPV virus and never even know about it because it doesn’t cause symptoms, and most of the time it goes away by itself within a year or 2. Having HPV does not mean that you have or will get cancer. There are 100 different types of HPV, and only around 14 of these are “High Risk”. These high-risk types are the ones that, if left long enough in your body, can cause cells to become cancerous. Some of my own research on the cancer research website is explained below. HPV that remains in the body for a long time can damage DNA, leading to cell division. This is when it can lead to cancer. Of course, as previously stated, not all HPV is in the high-risk category and usually does clear up on its own. This is why so many people are unaware they even have the virus: it has cleared up before they’ve had their routine smear check.

I was told during my own routine smear test that the test checks for HPV and abnormal cells, so this meant if the cells seemed normal but HPV was present, we would do a “wait and see” policy. This meant that if women do have HPV, but no abnormal cells are found, then they would be invited back for another check-up around a year later, and if the virus is still present, then a colposcopy would be performed to examine the cervix further. Any long-lasting HPV means that cells will be monitored so that if there are any changes, these cells can be treated or removed before they become cancerous. There is no current treatment for HPV, but women in the UK are now more protected from it as we all receive a 3-course HPV vaccination, around the age of 12–13. This is usually given in school in year 9. When I was at school, it was only the females who got given this, but I have now been made aware that boys also receive this vaccination, as this can cause cancer in males as well. It has been linked to many different cancers, including mouth, anal, penile, vulval and vaginal cancer, but the most common type is cervical cancer.

https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/human-papilloma-virus-hpv/

Whilst this whole set of information seems like a lot, it has truly made me realise that this knowledge isn’t given to everyone. So many women aren’t aware that having forms of sexual contact can increase their risk of HPV, or that having multiple sexual partners also increases the chances of contracting the virus. And although it isn’t recognised as an STD, I feel it is so important to know this, because if more women knew this information, and it was more widely spread, I truly believe more women would go to their regular smear tests. I was always under the impression that getting cervical cancer was something that could just happen, a truly unfortunate thing that can happen to anyone, and although you can get cervical cancer from never having any sexual contact, it is extremely rare. Of course, this is not intended to make anyone believe that sexual contact gives you cancer. But the education behind how sex and cervical cancer are linked is so important! This should be on every leaflet and every poster in every GP surgery and every medical facility; it is not spoken about enough.

Why were we not taught this in sex ed?

There will be women who have known this all along and may be reading this, wondering, " How do women NOT know this? But the truth is, many, many women don’t know this, and are more at risk every single day without even knowing it. There will be women out there who have had multiple sexual partners, or maybe they have been with only one person, but this person has had multiple partners in the past, which also increases the risk. Would knowing this prompt more women to attend their routine checkups? I think so. This was scary information for me to take in. I am sharing my own worries and how this made me feel paranoid! Please consult with your doctor for any medical concerns.

Want to update this post, since my smear, I have had my results back, which gave me confirmation I did not have HPV, which means I was clear from any cells that could become cancerous! This wait would have been much easier if I had been educated before my appointment! I advise anyone reading this to always go to their routine checkups! I sure won't be missing any ever again.

I have also published this story on Medium.