The virus often disappears but may remain detectable for years after infection. Next in prevalence is HPV-18. Together these account for nearly 90 percent of HPV infections in cases of HSIL and cervical cancer. The NIH Consensus Conference on Cancer of the Cervix and the World Health Organization have concluded that there is a cause and effect relationship between HPV and cervical cancer. Scientists continue to study other factors that may also be required for the development of cancer, such as changes in the immune system.
Most infections appear to go away on their own without causing any kind of abnormality.
However, infection with cancer-associated HPV types may increase the risk that mild abnormalities will progress to more severe abnormalities or cervical cancer. With regular follow-up care by trained clinicians, women with precancerous cervical abnormalities should not develop invasive cervical cancer.