Each year, about 300 women in Norway, 15,000 women in the United States and 500,000 women world wide learn that they have cancer of the cervix. Nearly half of these women die, most of them in the developing world.

Cervical cancer develops from persistent human papilloma virus (HPV) infection that may transform normal cervical tissue to precancerous lesions (dysplasia) and further to invasive cancer.

From screening programs in the developed part of the world, cervical cell samples are obtained regularly to check for the presence of dysplasia. Dysplasia is treated by local surgery (conisation). Unfortunately for young women the conisation also removes normal cervical tissue that may lead to cervical dysfunction including preterm delivery in pregnancies. Therefore tissue preserving methods are needed for treatment of cervical dysplasia.

HPV infection is common and is cleared by the immune system in most women. Persistent infection of aggressive HPV-types may induce cervical dysplasia and cancer. A more liberal sex-life increases the number of HPV-infections in young women, but no treatment is available.

HPV tests have just reached the market and may be used together with cervical cell sampling (cytology) to address the aggressiveness of the HPV.  In the future a prophylactic HPV vaccine may be available, which may be of enormous importance to developing countries that lack cervical screening programs.