Recent findings suggest that semen could possibly cause cervical cancer in women. Should women stop having sex with men then to prevent cancer?

Not necessarily, according to the The Medical Research Council. It's just that a team from the MRC has found that cells of cervical and womb tumors contain prostaglandin receptor molecules on their surface, and there are very high levels of prostaglandin in sperm.

However, there's really no cause for sexual alarm whatsoever, as a cancer expert clarifies that while the prostaglandin in sperm could fuel cervical cancer, the chances of unprotected sex actually leading to cervical cancer are very slim.

So before you guys start cursing prostaglandin for potentially making your girlfriends or wives stop having sex with you, allow us first to brief you on what prostaglandin is and what it does. Prostaglandin naturally occurs in the cell lining of female reproductive organs, it's responsible for regulating cell growth and directs the womb lining to thicken or shed during menstruation. So yes, women have prostaglandin in their bodies to begin with, but the concentration of prostaglandin in semen is 1,000 times higher.

This is why the MRC team set out to conduct an experiment where they exposed cancerous tissue directly to prostaglandin. What they found was that the influx of prostaglandin found in semen boosted the level of signalling between cells. When this happens, the high level of signalling triggers new cascades of signals which in turn eventually lead to an increase in tumor growth. While cervical cancer is usually triggered or caused by the human papilloma virus, there are other factors that could fuel cancer growth, and in this case, the MRC found that sperm is potentially one of those factors.

This is a relevant finding according to cancer experts because they could develop a cancer treatment wherein prostaglandin is blocked from reaching the tumor cell receptors, thus slowing the growth of a cancer. Dr. Henry Jabbour, who spearheaded the research experiment, said that women with pre-cancerous cells may also be affected by this finding because even though the cells used in the experiment were already cancerous, pre-cancerous cells may also have prostaglandin receptors. However, more work has to be conducted before they can prove that.

Today, cervical cancer continues to be the second most common type of cancer in women under 35. Dr. Jabbour says that what sexually active women at risk of cervical or uterine cancer can do now is to encourage their partners to wear a condom during sex. And also for women who are not at risk of cancer, Dr.Jabbour says that "the most important thing that women can do at this time to prevent cervical cancer from developing is to go for regular cervical smear tests."