human papillomavirus
In the United States, almost 14,000 new cases of cervical cancer diagnosed each year, and nearly 5,000 women die of cervical cancer annually. Risk factors for cervical cancer include various aspects of sexual behavior, parity, smoking, oral contraceptive use, presence and type of human papillomavirus (HPV) and the presence of other sexually transmitted diseases. The most important risk factors have been shown to involve the presence of HPV, HPV type and persistence of HPV infection. Recently, it h as been demonstrated that more than 99% of cervical cancers have detectable HPV DNA sequences, with the majority of cancers associated with specific HPV types such as HPV 16 and 18. Papillomavirus are relatively ubiquitous and have been described as causative agents for epithelial lesions in a wide variety of animals, including rabbits and cows, as well as humans.