.A Swedish study suggests that bacterial vaginosis (BV) may potentially be a cofactor with human papillomavirus in the development of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN), a precursor of cervical cancer
In a retrospective study of 6,150 women undergoing Pap smear screening at Sahlgrenska University Hospital, Goteborg, and Central Hospital, Skovde, Sweden, Drs. Jens Platz-Christensen, Eva Sundstrom and Per-Goran Larsson investigated the possibility that BV could be important in the development of CIN, according to a report published in Acta Obstetricia et Gynecologica Scandinavica.
Pap smear procedures differ in Scandinavia from in the United States due to use of the "triple smear," in which a swab is taken from the vagina in addition to the cervix. Bacterial vaginosis, diagnosed from clue cells seen on Pap smear, was found in 10 percent of the study population.
Of the 617 women with BV, CIN occurred in 5 percent, compared with 1.4 percent of women without BV. Moreover, when early-stage CIN was excluded, second- and third-stage CIN occurred in 2.9 percent of subjects with BV, compared with 0.4 percent of those without BV.
In a combined analysis of 24 studies, Drs. Zuo-Feng Zhang and Colin Begg found a link that they said suggests a potential causal relationship between Trichomonas vaginalis and cervical neoplasia.
Their research, reported in the International Journal of Epidemiology, uncovered an association of T. vaginalis infection with epithelial degeneration, dysplasia, carcinoma in situ and invasive squamous cell carcinoma of the cervix uteri.
References:
1.Platz-Christensen JJ, Sundstrom E, Larsson P-G. Bacterial vaginosis and cervical intraepithelial neoplasia. Acta Obstet Gynecol Scand 1994;73:586-588. 2.
Zhang Z-F, Begg DB. Is Trichomonas vaginalis a cause of cervical neoplasia? Results from a combined analysis of 24 studies. Int J Epidemiol 1994;23:682-690.
From : THE VAGINITIS REPORT , published by the 3M National Vaginitis Association.(www.vaginalinfections.com)
Editor: Dr. Richard Sweet, professor and chairman, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Pittsburgh, Magee Womens Hospital.
Can BV Lead To Cervical Cancer?
A group of Swedish researchers believe that it does. Their studies suggest bacterial vaginosis may compound the effects of
HPV - human papilloma virus, and that when present together, they may increase the risk of a condition that often acts as
precursor to cervical cancer.
