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Dr. Magtibay describes how the HPV virus, which is responsible for more than 80 percent of cervix cancers, causes these cancer and genital warts. Dr. Paul Magtibay is a gynecological cancer specialist at Mayo Clinic in Phoenix, Arizona.
Dr. Magtibay:
We know that HPV virus causes over 80 percent, probably over 90 percent of all cervix cancers and it’s the result of warts, either in the cervix, vagina or vulvar area. We don’t know exactly how it does that. We know that there are certain viruses that are high risk subtype, meaning that they have a greater chance or propensity of developing cancer of the cervix.
But we don’t know necessarily is it a tumor suppressor gene or an oncogene that’s activated in both these viruses but a great deal of study is going on as we speak with the HPV virus and cervix cancer.
A woman could have genital warts without visually seeing them because they often times are just inside the vaginal area. Most of the time these are small and fairly insignificant. It’s when they get larger or symptomatic or a concern that they may be cancerous that they need to be treated.