Human Papillomavirus—The Cause of Human Cervical Cancer

Abstract

Objective: Cervical cancer is the second most prevalent cancer in females worldwide. Infection with human papillomavirus (HPV) is regarded as the main risk factor of cervical cancer. One objective of this study was to conduct a qualitative systematic review of some case-control studies and to examine the role of human papillomavirus (HPV) in the development of human cervical cancer (CC) beyond any reasonable doubt. Methods: We conducted a systematic review and re-analysis of some impressive key studies aimed to answer the following question. Is there a cause-effect relationship between human papillomavirus and cervical cancer? The method of the conditio sine qua non relationship was used to proof the hypothesis whether the presence of human papillomavirus guarantees the presence of cervical carcinoma. In other words, if human cervical cancer is present, then human papillomavirus is present too. The mathematical formula of the causal relationship k was used to proof the hypothesis, whether there is a cause-effect relationship between human papillomavirus and cervical carcinoma. Significance was indicated by a p-value of less than 0.05. Result: The studies analyzed (sample size N = 7657) were able to provide strict evidence that human papillomavirus is a necessary condition (a conditio sine qua non) of cervical carcinoma. Furthermore, the studies analyzed provide impressive evidence of a cause-effect relationship (k = +0.723669245, p value Conclusion: Human papillomavirus is the cause of human cervical carcinoma.