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Celibate nuns never get cervical cancer. This might seem like an odd bit of trivia, but it helped researchers understand the cause of this deadly cancer.
The humanpapilloma virus (HPV) causes cervical cancer. HPV is a very common infection that can be spread from person to person. Some types of HPV are spread through sexual contact. For the sexually active female population, cervical cancer is a tremendous public health problem.
Fortunately, a simple test – the Papanicolaou (Pap) smear – has contributed greatly to the early detection of cervical cancer and has been credited with reducing its mortality rates.
Cervical cancer mortality has decreased by more than 70 percent since the introduction of the test. Still, approximately 13,000 new cases of cervical cancer – including 4,500 deaths – occur each year in the United States.
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