Is it possible to get cervical cancer if you've only had one sexual partner?

Anyone can carry the HPV virus and in most people it doesnt cause any problems at all. . However, there are several strains of the virus and the more sexual partners you have the more risk you are exposed to.

If neither party has ever had any sexual activity involving the genitals, then it's highly unlikely you'd be HPV+ and at risk of cc. Not all strains of HPV are associated with cervical cancer either, it's the high risk strains responsible for almost all cervical cancer.

If you're unsure, you can always self-test for HPV (not before age 30) - you can buy a kit online in many countries or ask your GP for a self-testing kit.

The GP can also do a HPV test but it's usually invasive, like a pap test.

I chose not to have pap tests, I was concerned that a cancer that was always rare in this country involved a screening test that produced a lot of false positives that often resulted in excess biopsies and potentially harmful over-treatment.

I was happy to accept my near zero risk of cc rather than the 77% lifetime risk of colposcopy and biopsy under our over-screening program. (that figure was never released to women)

Now it's clear HPV- women can forget about cc -...that's most of us...95% of women aged 30 to 60 are HPV-

Of course, if you take a new partner or want to be reassured, you can always re-test for HPV every 5 years or so. the Dutch offer 5 HPV tests or HPV self-tests at ages 30,35,40,50 and 60.

If you're HPV- and no longer sexually active, you might choose to forget all further testing.

I think serious questions need to be asked why so many women were put through damaging and distressing procedures - the risk could have been greatly reduced with less testing and starting testing when women were 30.

Here in Australia we knowingly over-screened women for decades leading to lots of avoidable damage. The consequences for many of these women was severe and will last a lifetime. (damage to the cervix leading to cervical incompetence or stenosis - infertility, miscarriages, high risk pregnancies requiring bed rest and cervical cerclage, premature babies (some left with disability, some didn't survive) psych issues etc.

We need to be very careful with screening, the medical profession has little respect for consent and informed consent in women's cancer screening - get all the info and make up your own mind, you can say NO - it's your choice.

Note any doctor who tells you testing is compulsory or pressures you, should be challenged and/or reported. No one has the right to accept risk on our behalf, esp when we're left with the consequences. Note how differently bowel screening is approached - very low key, yet bowel cancer takes far more lives in the developed world than cc ever did - the fact is the system treats men very differently, they respect consent and informed consent for men and accept their right to choose. Time to demand the same treatment for women.