European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - February 11, 1992, Darmstadt, Hesse                                The wart virus an old enemy creating new problems by Sandra Blakeslee the new York times although 20 to 30 percent of sexually Active americans Are infected with the virus that causes genital warts and though it is found in 85 percent or More of cancers of the cervix doctors say the wart epidemic is cause for concern but not alarm. Most abnormalities tied to the warts can be detected by routine Pap smears and removed researchers say and they Are learning More and More about risk factors for developing cervical cancer and How to avoid them. The most important safeguards Are regular Pap smears and limiting the number of sex partners they say. For teen agers they say sex before the age of 18 increases the risk that the warts will cause precancerous lesions in some cities today half of All sexually Active teen agers Are infected with the sexually transmitted wart virus or papilloma. Teen age girls under 18 Are most vulnerable. Alarmed by such findings Many women Are asking their doctors to test them a and their daughters a for the wart virus in addition to taking the much less expensive routine Pap smears. And if the virus is detected they Are asking their doctors to remove infected cells surgically or by using heat or lasers even if no visible warts or abnormal cells Are present. Several biotechnology companies Are developing tests that detect genital wart viruses but Only one the Virapa test from life technologies inc of Gaithersburg md., has been approved by the food and drug administration. But Many health experts say that these women Are panicking needlessly and Point to another set of facts most people who Harbor the genital wart virus do not develop warts much less a precancerous condition known As dysplasia or cancers caused by the warts said or. Mark Schiffmann an epidemiologist at the National cancer Institute who has been studying the virus for six years. The women who do develop dysplasia Are routinely identified during Pap testing in which a Sample of cervical cells is examined under a Microscope for the Coil shaped abnormalities that indicate the wart virus is present. Although 600,000 women around the world develop cervical cancer each year and 500,000 die from it Only 13,000 american women get the disease each year and 5,000 die from it most of those who die have not had regular Pap tests. New research is shedding Light on How the virus enters cervical cells and causes warts or cancer. Of the 70 wart virus strains that afflict humans about 25 specialize in the genital tract. Two strains numbers 16 and 18, Are found in i Yost cancers. Schiffmann said if although Many men Are infected with the genital wart virus they rarely develop visible warts or cancer because penile skin tends to resist transformation by the virus. Quot there s no Point in checking them for the virus because you can t get rid of it Quot said or. Alex Ferenczy a professor of gynaecology at Mcgill University in Montreal. Women Are More vulnerable to the virus because the cervix has a transition zone of cells that Are spread of genital warts no cause for panic undergoing cell division Ferenczy said and the virus exploits dividing cells to reproduce itself. Today Many people Are asking whether genital warts Are More common and whether Young people Are at a greater risk for cancer he said. Cervical cancer used to be an old woman s disease but today it is showing up in younger women Ferenczy said. In the 1960s, 9 percent of cervical cancers were found in women under 35, he said. Now 25 percent of the cancers Are found in women under 35. In one Case a 16-year-old girl caught the virus in her first sexual encounter and was dead from cervical cancer nine months later said or. Tom broker a wart virus expert at the University of Rochester school of Medicine. Such trends Are shedding Light on the primary risk factors for cervical cancer Schiffmann said. The most important is the number of sexual partners the More partners. Schiffmann said the More Likely a woman is to have wart virus Dan in her cervix in a Berkeley. Calif. Study women who had 10 or More sexual partners were 11 times More Likely to be infected with the wart virus than monogamous women the frequency of sex is also a Factor or. Moscicki said the virus enters the cervix through tiny injuries sustained during sexual Intercourse frequent sex with an infected partner increases the Odds of the virus getting a foothold she said. The age of first Intercourse is important or. Moscicki said in girls under 18, the cervix is much less mature and contains a larger transition zone that is vulnerable to wart virus infection. Women who smoke More than 15 cigarettes a Day double their risk of developing cervical cancer Ferenczy said. Cervical secretions contain 40 times More metabolites of nicotine than blood he said. A woman who smokes 10 cigarettes a Day is exposing her cervix to the equivalent of 100 cigarettes a Day. Women who take birth control pills sometimes have More genital warts than women who use different methods of birth control Ferenczy said. It May be that the extra hormones stimulate the virus he said or that some women on the Pill have More sexual partners. Finally some people May have vulnerable immune systems that Are less adept at holding the viral infections in Check Schiffmann said despite such worries the american College of obstetrics and gynaecology does not recommend that women be tested for wart virus infection. Instead it recommends that they get annual Pap smears that detect those viral infections that Are actually causing trouble. Ii Mimi to i Valv canc it it it to Croix a tall through 0r�dt x  pm to tote Tofey pop a nor and  its Gss a  1 . Grad 1 Grad 2 or my 3 Normal Coody mra  my it Impi a farm Nama Drao Saiia Dot Tiara Dinto Iti Dit Tom mils Quot Quot a or by searching for a vaccine for cervical cancer by Sandra Blakeslee the new York times scientists have discovered the Nasty tricks used by a virus that causes genital Waits and largely because of these Dise Ovetie the virus has emerged As the primary suspect in nearly All cervical cancer. Researchers say they have found after several years of study that the virus invades healthy cells chemically manipulates them into dividing and then steals the substances the cells make in division to make copies of itself. Most of the time researchers have Learned the virus merely steals enough of the substances proteins and enzymes to make a few copies of itself apparently scientists say the immune system somehow keeps the wart virus in Check but scientists have discovered that i this control lapses the virus becomes More aggressive and causes the growth of warts which in turn shed new copies of the virus. In extreme cases the virus can invade Normal cells and transform them into cancerous cells based on this new knowledge of How the virus works researchers said that they should to Able to develop a vaccine against the virus thereby preventing most cases of cervical cancer routine screening has greatly reduced the rate of cervical cancer in the United states about 13,000 women develop the disease each year and 5,000 die from it. Worldwide cervical cancer kills More than half a million women each year. If the findings led to a successful vaccine they would have an immense medical Impact said or Tom broker of the University of Rochester medical Center a leading expert on wart viruses. Experts estimate that at least 90 percent of All cervical tutors contain the wart virus although the virus does not act alone in producing cancer broker said it is the primary Factor in the disease in the other cases he said cells undergo mutations that affect the same cellular machinery co opted by the virus. Wart viruses or Papillomas have been invading animal cells since the first vertebrates crawled out of the sea broker said. Almost every animal on Earth is plagued by warts he said including sperm whales beavers cows dogs snakes turtles frogs and Birds the viruses Are highly specific. A virus that infects dogs will not infect cats for example. Each species of animal can be infected by several strains of a virus that Are defined by slight variations in their Dan building blocks. Detox ribonucleic acid or Dan is the genetic building Block of life. Humans Are afflicted by 70 strains of wart viruses each of which specializes in one Type of epithelium the cells that form the skin and that line the Mouth respiratory tract genital tract and other body surfaces thus while one will cause warts Only Between the fingers another affects skin near the fingernails and another the Palm broker said different strains invade the face Bottoms of the feet or arms about 25 wart strains specialize in the genital area and can be sexually transmitted Oral sex can transmit them to similar tissues in the vocal cords an estimated 20 to 30 percent of adults Are infected with sexually transmitted wart viruses broker said but most suffer no ill effects because their immune systems hold the virus in Check certain cells found in the cervix Are particularly vulnerable to wart viruses broker said three to 4 percent of women infected by the virus continued on Page 16 february 11, 1991 the stars and stripes a Page 15