Risk of cervical cancer transmission through sexual intercourse

On the afternoon of November 28, Professor Harald zur Hausen, winner of the 2008 Nobel Prize in Medicine, spoke on the topic "Cancer prevention: a challenge for global health".

Professor Harald zur Hausen and students of VNU-HCM at the exchange session on the afternoon of November 28 - Photo: M.DUC

Professor Hausen said that according to his research, two types of HPV (Human papillomavirus) 16 and HPV18 were found in 70% of cervical cancer biopsies worldwide. Human papillomavirus is affecting global health. More than 5% of cancers worldwide are caused by persistent infection with this virus.

Papillomavirus is the most common sexually transmitted infection, affecting 50-80% of the population. More than 100 types of HPV are known, about 40% of which are sexually transmitted and 15 others are responsible for cervical cancer in women. Papillomavirus can be detected in 99.7% of women with confirmed cervical cancer, which affects 530,000 women each year, mostly in developing countries.

Professor Hausen also gave his analysis on the characteristics of the two strains of HPV16 and HPV18 and the effectiveness of the vaccine in treating cervical cancer, minimizing surgery. According to Professor Hausen, the best age to get the cervical cancer vaccine is from 9 to 25 years old, for both men and women.

According to Dr. Tran Diep Tuan, Vice Principal of the University of Medicine and Pharmacy in Ho Chi Minh City, Professor Hausen has raised new questions. For example, further research is needed to determine whether eating red meat such as beef cooked by grilling will cause rectal cancer.

People believe that grilling meat creates carcinogens, but eating a lot of white meat like chicken if processed by grilling method does not cause cancer. Is there an interaction between the virus in red meat and carcinogens that cause the disease, not purely the agents created during the grilling process. Professor Hausen's questions will be a premise to open up for scientists in this field.

Prof. Dr. Tran Thi Loi, working at Tu Du Obstetrics Hospital, said: through Professor Hausen's presentation, she has gained additional knowledge about the body's immunity, HPV infection and why it causes cervical cancer. The new and important point, according to Dr. Loi, is the information that cancers that can be prevented early are cancers caused by bacteria such as stomach cancer, bladder cancer, and cancers caused by viruses such as liver cancer, cervical cancer.

For cervical cancer, vaccination is the primary prevention strategy and cervical cancer screening is the secondary prevention strategy. These two strategies must be combined, with vaccination helping to delay screening but not replacing cancer screening.

Questioning Professor Hausen, Dr. Loi said that Vietnam already has both types of cervical cancer vaccines, but the Ministry of Health only allows vaccination between the ages of 9 and 25, without taking into account the cultural factor in Vietnam, where many women get married late and have sex after the age of 25. According to Dr. Loi, the age of 9-25 is chosen because foreign countries have an open lifestyle, the average age of sexual intercourse is 13, but in Vietnam, not everyone has "sex" before marriage.

Currently, maternity hospitals such as Hung Vuong, Tu Du, and Pasteur Institute all offer cervical cancer vaccination services, but people have to pay for this service. According to Dr. Loi, if the State includes the cervical cancer vaccine in the national immunization program, it will benefit the people. Currently, not many people get vaccinated against cervical cancer, because according to Dr. Loi, only people with money are interested in this.

According to Hong Nhung - Tuoi Tre - NT