HPV Vaccine and
Cervical Cancer Awareness

Daniel Lopiccolo, MD
Voss Center

Q. What is Cervical Cancer?
A. Cervical cancer occurs when the cells in the lining of the cervix (part of a women’s uterus or womb) begin to grow abnormally. The precancerous stage is referred to as dysplasia which means abnormal cells. Some dysplasia goes away without treatment and some cases, if left untreated, can progress to cancer.

Q. What is HPV?
A. HPV stands for Human Papillomavirus. HPV is a group of more than 200 types of virus that can cause warts on various parts of the body. The virus is spread by contact with an infected person to his or her sex partner. HPV is the cause of more than 99 percent of all cervical cancer cases. There are also connections between HPV and several other types of cancers.

Q. What is the HPV Vaccine?
When we are growing up, most of us are vaccinated against several different diseases such as mumps, measles, rubella and tetanus. There is another recently approved vaccine which offers protection against cervical cancer, cervical dysplasias and genital warts associated with certain HPV genotypes. The vaccine causes your body to produce neutralizing antibodies. The antibodies appear to block the HPV infection, thereby protecting that individual from acquiring the disease.

The best approach to treating females is to vaccinate them at an age where they are at the lowest incidence of sexual activity. Early vaccination is necessary for primary prevention of cervical cancer. The best target age group is between 9-13 years of age. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends vaccine for girls 11-12 years of age with an indicated range between 9-26 years old. Only lifelong abstinence protects from HPV infection and therefore regular cervical cancer screenings are very important for both vaccinated and unvaccinated women.

Q. Are there local resources available for me to learn more about this topic?
A. The Cancer Center at Ball Memorial Hospital is offering a sponsored dinner and presentation by Susan Rains, Pediatric Nurse Practitioner at the CHS Pediatric Center and myself, regarding cervical cancer and the new HPV vaccine and its role in the prevention of cervical cancer at the BSU Alumni Center at 6:30 p.m., Wednesday, May 9.

Daniel Lopiccolo is a physician at the Voss Center for Women and is a member of the Ball Memorial Hospital medical staff. For more information on cervical cancer send an email to info@chsmail.org.

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