Westover Heights Clinic - Women's Concerns

It has been described in the past that women who have herpes have an increased risk of developing cervical cancer.  Portions of the genetic material of the herpes virus have been identified in tissue samples from women with cervical cancer. However, the role of herpes as a cause of cervical cancer is completely unproven. Many factors are linked to cervical cancer; early sexual activity, multiple sex partners and smoking.  But clearly the prime culprit in cervical cancer is certain strains of genital wart virus or human papilloma virus (HPV.) Women who have herpes should not be concerned about a greater risk for cervical cancer if they do not have HPV (genital/cervical wart virus).  Women should talk about their clinicians about the vaccines that are now available to prevent infection with many strains of HPV.