So does having more sexual partners make it more likely you get cervical cancer ?

[mummybarb]

The title is not supposed to be inflammatory, I'm generally trying to understand this.

For what it's worth, I've had plenty of partners...

Please correct my ignorance at any point in my post as I'm not fully clued up on this topic.

So HPV is a sexually transmitted disease which about 80 percent of sexually active people get at some point.

This virus can then in some people cause cell changes which can then over time become cancerous.

So most people have HPV at some point right ? But if you only ever slept with one person and that person only ever slept with you for example, wouldn't your risk of getting HPV be lower ? Than say for someone like me, who's had a jolly good time with various partners ?

I've read around on Google and think I came across something saying my theory is correct, but that's just one source. Can anyone help me understand ?

How old are you? Were you vaccinated?

yes, more sexual partners, more liklihood of cervical cancer, but that is on a population level, and doesn't mean much to individuals

Too old to have been vaccinated.

Is having many partners a risk factor then ?

Yes

Well, yes, in a way. But, given that 80% of sexually active people will have had it at some point, I guess you don't have to sleep with hundreds of people to come into contact with it.

There are however, a lot of different strains of HPV. When my kids were vaccinated, the NHS vaccines were old ones that covered 4 strains. I think if you paid privately, you could get ones covering 9 strains.

More partners = higher risk. The other thing is how many partners your partners have had- if your one partner has had 100 partners, then you're at more risk than if they'd also only had one partner. If you've had five partners who have had five partners each, you're at less risk than one with a hundred previous partners.

Sleeping with more partners gives you more chance of contracting HPV, simple numbers game.

www.health.harvard.edu/blog/more-sexual-partners-more-cancer-2020042819658
the article keeps it simple.

mummybarb · Today 23:49
MrsSkylerWhite · Today 23:45
How old are you? Were you vaccinated?

“Too old to have been vaccinated”

Ah, ok. In which case, yes. More partners, higher risk.

Yes in the sense that the more partners you have the more likelihood it is you have been exposed to more types of HPV. And if you’ve never had any sexual contact with anyone your risk of getting cervical cancer via HPV would be practically zero.

There are a lot of different types of HPV, some of which are deemed “high risk” (the two “highest risk” causing the majority of cervical cancers being HPV 16 and HPV 18). So obviously the more partners you have had the more likely it is you will have been exposed to one or more of the “high risk” strains.However, not everyone who gets a “high risk” HPV will develop abnormal cells/eventually cervical cancer - most people clear these naturally. Anything that affects the immune system will make it less likely that you would clear then HPV, which is why smoking for example is a significant risk factor for cervical cancer, as is having any kind of condition which compromises the immune system (such as HIV). Although, having said that, plenty often women are unable to clear HPV even if they are otherwise very healthy and have no other risk factors (me being one of them and then haven’t had many partners at all!)

I don't understand. You could have been a virgin and stay faithful to one man who shags around or who has an infection and passes it to you. You've not had many sexual partners but he did.
What if you only sleep with 3 people without condoms but then someone else always used condoms correctly and had sex with 30 people. I think the correlation is too general and shames people with high body count.

The best case scenario is that you're both virgins and stay faithful forever otherwise we're all doomed. It only takes that one time with the one person.

Allegedly. However, my DM had cervical cancer and only 1 sexual partner her whole life. I am HPV negative after multiple partners. (too old for vaccine)

You can have sex with someone, who has only had sex with one other person and get HPV. You can have sex with 30 people and all of them by HPV clear. Sure, more partners equals more chance of contact with someone with it, but I wouldn't say its a particularly high risk.

There are over 100 types of HPV, only 40 can infect the skin thats on your cervix, and only 2 of them cause over 70% of cervical cancers. Sure 80% or more people may get HPV in their life but that doesn't mean its going to be a problematic one.

Yes, I have also heard this many times. If you have lots of sexual partners, (like 40+ by say 28-30 y.o.) and you started having sex early (like 13-14,) then you're more likely to develop cervical cancer (than if you only have 5 to 8 sexual partners, and don't start shagging til you're 18+.)

Of course you won't NECESSARILY develop cervical cancer if you shagged a lot from 13 years old, and many women won't develop it. But if you're a later starter, and have only had a handful of men, you are less likely to develop cervical cancer than the ones who started at 13 and have shagged 40- 50+ men.

Enjoy

Assume that when you have sex with someone; you are also having sex with everyone they have had sex with. And everyone their previous partners has sex with. And so on.

I don’t believe condoms protect you against HPV either.

I've had cervical cancer and had very few sexual partners, cab be caused by a number of factors and you only need 1 partner to have hpv as it is (was) so prevalent in people.

That's my understanding yes. I'm pre vaccination generation. I also recall reading somewhere that theres a link between becoming sexually active earlier and increased risk but this may have been a correlation not cause. As others have said we have no idea yet how to calculate individual risk. These stats are based on population studies.

I feel really muddled about HPV.

I've had regular smears and never been positive for HPV, but could i still have had it at some point and therefore the risk is still higher?

There must be people in this category if 80% of sexually active people have had it at some point?

Am I misunderstanding completely?

Yes and no. It’s negligible increased risk to you as an individual but an average increase in sexual partners in the population could cause an increase in cervical cancer cases. You can’t interpolate that trend to individual people.

Enjoy yourself pet and good luck with the article

I've heard if you start young then that's a big risk factor.

That doesn't make a lot of sense!
HVP is so common that after a certain number of partners, it probably wouldn't make much of a difference any more, but there's still going to be a difference in risk compared to those who have stayed sexually inactive or have had a very small amount of partners.

Cancer research uk says:

"Cervical cancer risk is almost three times higher in women who have had 6 or more sexual partners, compared with those who have had only one, a pooled analysis showed.[11] Cervical cancer risk is around doubled in women who first had sexual intercourse aged 14 or younger, compared with those who did so aged 25 or older, a pooled analysis showed."

Three times higher is a huge increase in an individual's risk, pretty much the opposite to 'negligible'.

YES