At high risk
In India, cervical cancer kills around 80,000 women each year and 120,000 new cases emerge. This is in stark contrast to the US, for example, where only 4,000 women die annually from the disease. The most common explanation for this difference is that developed nations have good screening programmes. When women there visit a doctor for a check-up, they are routinely tested for signs of disease. Under such surveillance, cervical abnormalities are detected so women can be treated early on.
Unlike most cancers, which are caused by genetic predisposition or random changes in cells, the vast majority of cervical cancer cases are caused by the human papillomavirus (HPV), a sexually transmitted infection. There are many different kinds of HPV, but the most common types
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