Epidemiological Features of Human Papillomavirus (HPV) Infection among Women Living in Mainland China

Cancer of the cervix is the third most common cancer in women worldwide, more than 85% of the casesoccurring in developing countries such as China. In China, since a national cancer registry is already set up butwith geographically limited data generated, the burden of cervical cancer is believed to be underestimated. Highriskhuman papillomavirus (HR-HPV) prevalence among women attending routine cervical cancer screeningprograms has been shown to correlate well with cervical cancer incidence rates based on independently obtainedHPV prevalence data as well as findings for the worldwide cervical cancer burden. Therefore, reviewing dataon HR-HPV prevalence in population-based screening studies and hospital-based case studies will be importantin the context of better understanding the cervical cancer burden and for the evaluation of the potential impactof HPV vaccination in the country. With the advent of prophylactic vaccines, significant progress is likely tobe made in cervical cancer prevention. This article reviews available data on the HPV epidemiology over a12-year time period (2001-2012) in mainland China under different epidemiological aspects: by age group ofstudy population, by ethnicity, by geographic area, as well as time period. The authors also review the potentialacceptability of HPV vaccination among Chinese women.