Women who were sexually active before they turned 18 may be more likely to suffer cervical cancer later in life, a study suggests.
Cervical cancer is the fourth-most common form of the disease in US women, affecting more than 13,000 American women every year and 3,300 British females.
However, unlike most cancers on the rise, doctors know what causes it. In nearly all cases, it’s caused by human papillomavirus (HPV), which spreads through sex.
Now, researchers in China have found a link between those who develop the disease and the age at which they lost their virginity.
For every year below age 18, the risk of the condition over a woman’s lifetime rose by around just under one percent.
They suggested the increased risk in young people could be due to their reproductive system not being fully developed and containing immature cells that can’t defend against infections like HPV.
Researchers in China found that having sex at a younger age could raise the risk of cervical cancer, which affects 13,000 American women every year (stock image)
Your browser does not support iframes.
Younger people are also less likely to be screened for cervical cancer or get the HPV vaccine, the researchers said.
The researchers called for increased sex and cervical cancer education for young people and better access to screening.
The study, published in the journal Heliyon, analyzed genetic data from a database of nearly 10million DNA samples.
Of those, the researchers identified 149 genetic variants ‘strongly associated’ with a person’s age when they first had sex and 48 associated with the amount of sexual partners a person has had.
The team found that for every year older a person is when they first have sex, their risk of developing cervical cancer decreases by 0.4 percent.
In this study, the researchers did not provide information on specific ages or the overall risk of developing cervical cancer.
However, they discussed a 2012 analysis of 28 studies, which found that girls who had sex at 14 years old or younger were less likely to use condoms or birth control and had more sex before starting birth control, making them more vulnerable to cervical cancer.
That research also found women who had sex for the first time at 18 years old or older were almost twice as likely to use birth control than those who lost their virginity at 15 or younger.
In the new study, having more sexual partners, meanwhile, did not make a significant difference in risk, despite recent research that suggests having multiple partners can double the risk of the disease.
The team said having sex at a young age could make the reproductive system more vulnerable to cancer-causing HPV.
Human papillomavirus (HPV) is responsible for 95 percent of cervical cancers in women, but cervical cancer screenings among women have been on the decline
HPV has been linked to more than 90 percent of cervical cancer rates. However, just 63 percent of US teens have been vaccinated against it
When parts of the female reproductive system are not yet fully developed, such as the cervix, they contain largely immature cells. These cells are more vulnerable to infections, raising the risk of HPV.
Female sexual organs finish developing at the end of puberty, around age 17.
Researchers also note younger people may be less likely to receive the HPV vaccine.
The CDC recommends preteens ages 11 to 12 get the two-shot vaccine, though it can be administered as early as age nine.
However, just two-thirds of teens ages 13 to 17 in the US are fully vaccinated. And in states like Mississippi and West Virginia, as few as 32 percent are up to date.
The researchers wrote: ‘The results of this study suggest that we should provide sexual education, popular science of sexual knowledge and health education of cervical cancer in young children to reduce the probability of young sexual behavior and high-risk sexual behavior.
‘It also suggests that we should improve the awareness and expand the popularization of cervical cancer screening in women, especially for women with high risk factors.’
Cervical cancer screening is done with a pap smear, in which doctors place a long brush and flat spatula into a woman’s vagina, near her cervix, and brush the implement around to gather cells.
However, the FDA last year approved a DIY swab that women can do in a doctor’s office to make the procedure more comfortable and accessible.
