High HPV Concentrations, Cigarette Smoking Significantly Raise Risks of Later Cervical Cancer

A study published in the November 2006 issue of Cancer Epidemiology shows that cigarette smoking and concurrent infection with high levels of the virus associated with cervical cancer can increase cancer risk by as much as 27 times, Performed at the Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm it suggests that both may create a biochemical synergy that propels the disease. The researchers looked at “Pap� smear examination data from 105,760 Swedish women and identified 499 women with cervical cancer in situ, along with 499 cancer-free women as controls. For these women, they compared their smoking behavior with concentrations (known as viral load) of HPV-16, the viral strain most associated with cervical cancer. The researchers found that a combination of high viral loads and smoking during the time they were initially examined resulted in very high risk of later cervical cancer.