What Is the HPV Virus?
Symptoms, Transmission Routes and Cancer Risk

How Is HPV Transmitted?

HPV is most commonly transmitted through genital skin contact. Transmission is possible even without full sexual intercourse. It is estimated that about 75% of sexually active women have an HPV infection at some point in their lives.

Being infected with HPV does not necessarily mean that a genital wart will form. Many people have the infection without noticing it.

How Long Does HPV Stay in the Body?

80–90% of HPV infections are cleared by the immune system within about 1–2 years after entering the body. However, a small proportion of the virus can remain silently (latent) in the body.

During periods when the immune system is weakened, this latent virus can become active and cause genital warts or cellular changes.

The Relationship Between HPV and Cancer

While some types of HPV only cause warts, some types are associated with both warts and cancer. High-risk HPV types in particular (such as Type 16 and Type 18) are associated with anal and penile cancer, and primarily with cervical cancer.

Cancer development is not sudden. After a high-risk HPV enters the body, the process of cancer formation usually takes a long time, around 10–15 years. For this reason, regular screening tests (the HPV DNA test and the smear) are of great importance.

Why Are HPV Types Important?

The HPV types that cause warts usually do not cause cancer. However, a person may have been infected with more than one HPV type. For this reason, HPV typing should be done to determine whether the virus is high-risk or low-risk.

In samples taken from patients who present with a complaint of genital warts, more than one HPV type can often be found.

HPV Types Outside the Genital Area

Some HPV types that cause warts in parts of the body outside the genital area can rarely also cause symptoms in the genital region. In this case, a type of HPV different from the approximately 40 types that cause genital infection may be detected as a result of typing.

The likelihood of HPV types other than those that cause genital infection causing cancer is extremely low.

HPV infection is common; however, thanks to regular screening, accurate typing and keeping the immune system strong, the development of cancer can be largely prevented.