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Epidemiology and Burden of Disease Associated with HPV Infection

  • Management of HPV and Associated Cervical Lesions (L Denny, Section Editor)
  • Published:
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Abstract

Infection with certain types of human papillomavirus is associated with approximately 660,000 cancers and over 350 million cases of genital warts annually. This ubiquitous virus is transmitted by skin-to-skin contact, including through sexual contact. Of the 40 types infecting the anogenital tract, approximately 15 are considered carcinogenic, particularly types 16 and 18 which are the commonest types found in women diagnosed with invasive cervical cancer. HPV has oncogenic potential at the cervix, vagina, vulva, penis, anus, and certain head and neck cancers. Benign disease is expressed as genital warts and the very rare condition of laryngeal papillomatosis. Infection with oncogenic types of HPV is considered essential in nearly all invasive cervical cancers and a varying percentage of the other HPV-related cancers. Recently, two HPV vaccines, the bivalent and quadrivalent vaccines, have become commercially available and both have shown high immunogenicity and efficacy. The vaccine is prophylactic, and current recommendations are to administer the vaccines to girls 9–12 years of old and, in settings with increasing resources, to extend the target group to boys and to older girls up to 26 years. The combination of vaccine and screening has the potential to significantly reduce the burden of HPV-related disease.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department Obstetrics and Gynaecology, SA MRC/UCT Gynaecological Cancer Research Centre, Groote Schuur Hospital/University of Cape Town, H45, Old Main Building, Observatory, Cape Town, 7925, South Africa

    Lynette Denny

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Correspondence to Lynette Denny.

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Lynette Denny declares grant research support and honoraria for appearing on various speaker forums on HPV vaccination from GlaxoSmithKline and Merck and research support from Roche Molecular & Roche Molecular Diagnostics.

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This article does not contain any studies with human or animal subjects performed by any of the authors.

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This article is part of the Topical Collection on Management of HPV and Associated Cervical Lesions

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Denny, L. Epidemiology and Burden of Disease Associated with HPV Infection. Curr Obstet Gynecol Rep 5, 189–195 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13669-016-0174-y

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