How does HPV cause cancer?
HPV can cause normal cells on infected skin or mucous membranes to turn abnormal. Most of the time, you cannot see or feel these changes, and in most cases, the body fights off the infection and returns the infected cells to normal. Sometimes, low-risk types of HPV cause visible changes that take the form of genital warts. If a high-risk HPV infection is not cleared up by the immune system, it can linger for many years and turn abnormal cells into cancer. About 10% of women with high-risk HPV on their cervix will develop long-lasting HPV infections that put them at risk for cervical cancer. Similarly, when high-risk HPV lingers, it can cause cancer in those areas. But these cancers are much less common than cervical cancer. How common is HPV and related diseases? Approximately 20 million Americans are currently infected with HPV, and another 6.2 million people become infected each year. At least 50% of sexually active men and women will contract a genital HPV infection. How can HPV be
