Year: 2025 | Month: June | Volume: 15 | Issue: 6 | Pages: 226-233
DOI: https://doi.org/10.52403/ijhsr.20250629
Inflammation: A Potential Association Between Cervical Cancer and UTI
Ritika Seth1, Sougata Sarkar2, Sarmishtha Chatterjee3
1,2B. Sc Medical Laboratory Technology, Belur Sramajibi Swasthya Prakalpa Samity, Bally, Howrah
3Assistant Professor, Department of Human Anatomy and Human Physiology, B. Sc Medical Laboratory Technology, Belur Sramajibi Swasthya Prakalpa Samity, Bally, Howrah
Corresponding Author: Sarmishtha Chatterjee
ABSTRACT
One of the most frequently diagnosed malignancies among females is cervical cancer. An escalation of cells in the cervix, located in the lower part of the uterus, connects to the vagina. Cervical cancer, a major cause of mortality and morbidity in young-adults and older-women, develops from a carcinogenic human-papillomavirus (HPV) in almost all patients. Several risk factors of HPV infection are shared with common urogenital-infective conditions, such as cystitis (lower urinary tract infection), vaginosis and vulvovaginitis, e.g., sexual behavior and certain vaginal microbiome structures. Urinary tract infections (UTIs), which are mainly due to bacterial infections such as those caused by Escherichia coli, are common in females and characterized by symptoms including lower abdominal soreness, frequent impulses to urinate and pain during urination. Cervical cancer and UTIs are two different diseases, but new research points to a possible connection in a retrospective cohort between chronic UTIs and a greater risk of cervical cancer. According to concurrent investigations, continual inflammation linked to repeat UTIs may produce CNF1, resulting in colonization and invasion of superficial umbrella cells in the bladder and significantly enhancing inflammation via proinflammatory cytokines. Concurrently, the COX-prostaglandin inflammatory axis provokes the inflammatory cascade mechanism in HPV infections. These two phenomena generate ROS to increase the risk of cancer-causing alterations in cervical cells. This review aims to explore the correlation between cervical cancer and UTIs as well as between HPV and E. coli which may abet the combined screening program of cervical cancer and UTIs in prevention and therapy.
Key words: UTI, Inflammation, UPEC, Cervical cancer, HPV, ROS