Can Cervical Cancer Be Prevented?

The most common form of cervical cancer starts with pre-cancerous changes, and there are ways to stop this disease from developing. The first way is to find and treat pre-cancers before they become true cancers, and the second is to prevent the pre-cancers.

Finding cervical pre-cancers

A well-proven way to prevent cervix cancer is to have testing (screening) to find pre-cancers before they can turn into invasive cancer. The Pap test (or Pap smear) and the HPV (human papilloma virus) test are used for this. If a pre-cancer is found, it can be treated, stopping cervical cancer before it really starts. Most invasive cervical cancers are found in women who have not had regular Pap tests.

The Pap test is a procedure used to collect cells from the cervix so that they can be looked at under a microscope to find cancer and pre-cancer. A Pap test can be done during a pelvic exam, but not all pelvic exams include a Pap test.

An HPV test can be done on the same sample of cells collected from the Pap test.

Things to do to prevent pre-cancers and cancers

HPV is passed from one person to another during skin-to-skin contact with an infected area of the body. Although HPV can be spread during sexual activity − including vaginal, anal, and oral sex − sex doesn't have to occur for the infection to spread. All that is needed is skin-to-skin contact with an area of the body infected with HPV. This means that the virus can be spread through genital-to-genital contact (without sex). It is even possible for a genital infection to spread through hand-to-genital contact.

Also, HPV infection seems to be able to be spread from one part of the body to another. This means that an infection may start in the cervix and then spread to the vagina and vulva.

It can be very hard not to be exposed to HPV. It may be possible to prevent HPV infection by not allowing others to have contact with your anal or genital area, but even then there might be other ways to become infected that aren’t yet clear. 

Limiting the number of sex partners and avoiding sex with people who have had many other sex partners can help lower your risk of exposure to genital HPV.   But again, HPV is very common, so having sex with even one other person can put you at risk.  Remember that someone can have HPV for years and still have no symptoms. Someone can have the virus and pass it on without knowing it.

Use condoms

Condoms (“rubbers”) provide some protection against HPV but they don’t completely prevent infection.  One reason that condoms cannot protect completely is because they don’t cover every possible HPV-infected area of the body, such as skin of the genital or anal area. Still, condoms provide some protection against HPV, and they also help protect against HIV and some other sexually transmitted infections. 

Don’t smoke

Not smoking is another important way to reduce the risk of cervical pre-cancer and cancer.

Get vaccinated

Vaccines are available that can protect young people against certain HPV infections. These vaccines protect against infection with the HPV subtypes most commonly linked to cancer, as well as some types that can cause anal and genital warts.

These vaccines only work to prevent HPV infection − they will not treat an infection that is already there. That is why, to be most effective, the HPV vaccines should be given before a person becomes exposed to HPV (such as through sexual activity).

These vaccines help prevent pre-cancers and cancers of the cervix. Some HPV vaccines are also approved to help prevent other types of cancers and anal and genital warts.

The vaccines require a series of injections (shots). Side effects are usually mild. The most common one is short-term redness, swelling, and soreness at the injection site. Rarely, a young person will faint shortly after the vaccine injection.

The American Cancer Society recommendations for HPV vaccine use are similar to those from the federal Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), and include the following:

• Routine HPV vaccination for girls and boys should be started at age 11 or 12. The vaccination series can be started as early as age 9.
• HPV vaccination is also recommended for females 13 to 26 years old and for males 13 to 21 years old who have not started the vaccines, or who have started but not completed the series. Males 22 to 26 years old may also be vaccinated.*
• HPV vaccination is also recommended through age 26 for men who have sex with men and for people with weakened immune systems (including people with HIV infection), if they have not previously been vaccinated.

*For people 22 to 26 years old who have not started the vaccines, or who have started but not completed the series, it’s important to know that vaccination at older ages is less effective in lowering cancer risk.

It’s important to realize that no vaccine provides complete protection against all cancer-causing types of HPV, so routine cervical cancer screening is still necessary.

For more information on the vaccine and HPV, please see HPV Vaccines.