how hpv turned into cervical cancer years later for a b.c. woman

corinne schelle considers herself one of the lucky ones. the 43-year-old kamloops, b.c. woman has now been cancer-free for five years. weeks before her son’s first birthday, schelle was told she had cervical cancer related to the human papillomavirus (hpv) .

the virus, which is a sexually transmitted infection, is behind almost every case of cervical cancer in women, and can cause a variety of cancers like head, neck and anal cancer in both women and men. and although the incidence rates of cervical cancer are declining, according to the canadian partnership against cancer (cpac) , roughly 1,300 women are diagnosed with the disease each year, and an estimated 400 will die from it.

‘i had to give up a part of my body’

to help herself move forward, schelle found resources and support at inspirehealth , a b.c.-based non-profit organization that offers counselling and self-care workshops to cancer patients.

hpv vaccination: a proven tool for prevention

perhaps most important for schelle, though, as a cervical cancer survivor, is to advocate for hpv vaccination : after all, it’s a proven tool for prevention.

beginning in the 2000s, many countries, including canada and the u.k., started vaccinating school-aged girls (too late for schelle herself), and later boys. and though results have shown a decrease in the high-grade lesions that can lead to cervical cancer, it’s difficult to show a decrease in actual cervical cancer diagnoses because it takes so long for the disease to develop, and the numbers are relatively small.

however, a breakthrough study from scientists in the u.k. looking at the effectiveness of the hpv vaccine, recently discovered a nearly 90 per cent reduction in cervical cancer in women who were first vaccinated when they were 12 or 13 years old.

in fact, the canadian population attributable risk of cancer (compare) study , funded by the canadian cancer society, found that we could prevent about 5,300 cervical cancer cases by 2042 if more canadian children were vaccinated against hpv.

hpv vaccine is most effective in pre-adolescent years

school-based immunization schedules for the hpv vaccine start in grades 4 to 7. notably, the vaccine is most effective when it is given during the pre-adolescent years, says a 2017 review of the canadian data by researchers at the university of saskatchewan’s school of public health :

hpv vaccination programs are now publicly funded for both girls and boys across canada. getty

while hpv vaccination programs are now publicly funded for both girls and boys across canada, this was not the case in 2016, when researchers saw a correlation between vaccine uptake and whether or not provincial funding was available. in fact, a study published by researchers at the princess margaret cancer centre, mcgill university, université de montréal, and the jewish general hospital found that provinces where the vaccine was available to boys in schools — alberta, nova scotia and prince edward island — saw higher vaccination rates  than in british columbia, new brunswick, newfoundland and labrador, and saskatchewan, where vaccinations were not publicly funded.

why wouldn’t you want your child vaccinated?

“people have a lot of uncertainty, especially now with covid and the concern that vaccines don’t work,” says dr. cathy popadiuk , chair of the canadian foundation for women’s health , canada’s national not-for-profit fundraising foundation for women’s sexual and reproductive health. “vaccines work for antibodies and for other parts of the immune system, like t cells and other things that we don’t measure.”

‘you can actually see less cancer happening’