HPV and race an unexpected finding

This much has long been known: Black women in the U.S. are 40 percent more likely to develop cervical cancer and twice as likely to die from it than their white counterparts. Doctors have believed for some time that this disparity can be attributed to black women s having less ready access to screening and follow-up care. However, a new study from the University of South Carolina, Columbia, suggests that there may be a genetic component at play.

The study focused on 326 white and 113 black college students who had similar numbers of detected HPV (human papillomavirus) infections, as well as similar risk factors such as numbers of sex partners. However, there was a distinct difference in the duration of their HPV infections. Each of the women was given a Pap test and HPV test every six months throughout her time at school. HPV infection, which is linked to the development of cervical cancer, tended to last about six months longer in the black women: 18 months, versus 12 months in white women. What s more, two years after the initial infections were found, 56 percent of the black women were still infected as compared to just 24 percent of their counterparts. Black women in the study also had a significantly higher rate of abnormal Pap tests: Ten percent versus 6 percent. The results are attracting attention, but experts agree that they need to be replicated in a larger study.

ACSH's Dr. Gilbert Ross thinks that the results are fascinating, especially in their suggestion of a genetic component. Yet he also points out that, most importantly, the study results underscore the importance for everyone of HPV vaccination. Last we reported, the incidence of HPV among females ages 11 to 29 declined from 2004 to 2011. It s a result that suggests the vaccine, first recommended for girls in 2007, may have begun to have a protective effect. Of course, protection against HPV is no guarantee of protection against cancer. But there is every reason to expect that salutary outcome, and future studies will hopefully demonstrate a declining cervical cancer rate.