Cancers are caused by the exposing to viruses, natural or chemical substances and radiations. All these factors have as effect the inducing of mutations or inadequate manifestations of different genes called “oncogene”, which are involved in the cell’s proliferation, in their differentiation and in the adjustment of these phenomena. The oncogenes are normally under the control of the inhibitor genes, of the anti-oncogenes which can be lost or can suffer their-selves a mutation under the action of these agents of risk (in this case their activity is reduced). But these anti-oncogenes can miss in a hereditary way, a fact which explains, in a great measure, the existence of familial predisposition to cancers.

How does the cervical cancer appear?

The cervical cancer is provoked by cellular anomalies which appear at the level of the uterine tube. At the beginning, the cellular excrescences happen at the level of the cervix, and this occurs because that the zone is accessible to some cyclic constant modifications, dependant on the term. Within this physiological process, there are chances that the cells resulted this way could suffer mutations, encouraging this way the appearance of the cells which are abnormally developed.

What are the cervical cancer causes?

Cervical cancer has many possible causes, such as:

- the treatment with medicines which contain diethylstilbestrol; the cancerous role of the hormones was discovered after the appearance of cervical cancer to little girls born by women who got diethylstilbestrol (estrogen) in the first three months of pregnancy.

- besides the hormones, the medicines that induce a rise of cancer risk are the immunosuppressive medicines, anti-cancerous medicines and the arsenic derivatives.

- administration of oral contraceptives (this thing depends on the doses taken and on the time period of administration).

- the familial predisposition. The members of a family where a person is affected by cervical cancer, present a risk (to be infected by the same cancer) twice or four times bigger than others families (where all the members are healthy). This raise of risk is, yet little and it can be probably explained by a mechanism which depends on more genes, dragging along a predisposition (there are added the risks from the environmental factors).

- chronic infection with Chlamydia, which is a type of intracellular bacteria and it has bacterial characteristics (synthetizes AND – deoxyribonucleic acid and RNA – ribonucleic acid, presents cellular wall, it is reproduced by cellular division, it is sensitive to antibiotics like cyclins) and characteristics of a virus (the energy needed by its own metabolism is given by host cells).

- infection with retroviruses HIV – Human Immunodeficiency Virus (AIDS) and HTLV – Human T-lymphotropic virus (leukemia); these retroviruses seem to have an oncogenical potentiality.

Another cervical cancer causes can be smoking and multiple pregnancies.

The most important risk factor is the infection with HPV (Human Papilloma Virus). This virus increases a lot the appearance of cancer. There are identified over 80 stems of HPV, from which type 16 and 18 are responsible of cervical cancer’s appearance in proportion of 70%. Scientific studies show that not all the women who are infected by this virus are suffering by cervical cancer.