Stress could make a woman more susceptible to cervical cancer, according to a new report, as she is less able to fight off the virus that can cause the disease.

Cancer of the cervix can be caused by the human papillomavirus, which is spread through sexual intercourse. In some cases, the body is able to get rid of the virus naturally. In others, however, it persists and can go on to cause cancer.

Researchers from the Fox Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia studied the link between stress and the body's ability to clear HPV in women in whom screening had identified pre-cancerous abnormalities. They were asked about their perceived short-term stress levels, as well as major events such as the death of a loved one.

Although major life events were found to have little connection to the body's response to HPV, the report, published in the Annals of Behavioural Medicine, found that subjective stress did affect immune response.

"Women with higher levels of perceived stress were more likely to have an impaired immune response to HPV16," said Dr Carolyn Fang. "That means women who report feeling more stressed could be at greater risk of developing cervical cancer because their immune system can't fight off one of the most common viruses that causes it."

New data presented at the 19th International Congress on Anti-Cancer Treatment in Paris recently indicated that Merck's Gardasil vaccine had achieved between 98 per cent and 100 per cent efficacy in the prevention of vaccine virus type-related pre-cancerous lesions.

It was licensed for use by the European Commission in September 2006. A rival product, GSK's Cervarix, was approved for use in Europe in 2007.

Click here to learn more about cervical cancer

• Study: Cervical cancer vaccine proves successful in treating genital warts 13/11/08
• New scanning process could aid cervical cancer detection, new research claims 21/10/08
• Cervical cancer screening strategy strengths and weaknesses explored in study 01/10/08
• GSK to supply cervical cancer vaccine for national campaign 23/06/08
• Study reinforces new hope for earlier cervical cancer detection 28/05/08