I have a cervical wart. My husband and I have been married 15 years. Does this mean he has been having an affair? Can this be passed on by oral sex? Will I get cancer? What do I do?

Like all warts, cervical warts are caused by a virus, the human papilloma virus (HPV). There are over 100 types of HPV, some types cause common skin warts, and others genital warts. There are about 30 types which can infect the cervix. If the cervix is infected with the virus this may cause visible warts but in many women infection can be only detected microscopically by a smear test.

Genital HPV is usually spread though direct sexual contact, including oral sex, but non-sexual infection, although rare, is also possible. The virus can also lie dormant in the body for many years. It would be wise not to assume anything about how you contracted the wart until you have had a full discussion with your husband about this. When transmission has occurred from an infected person, warts can take anything from a few weeks up to several months to appear. Generally the types of HPV that infect the skin of the hands and body don't infect the genital area, so it would be very unusual to contract cervical warts in this way.
 
About half of the different types of HPV that can infect the cervix are associated with cervical cancer. The presence of the HPV infection in the cervix does increase the risk that mild abnormalities in the cervical tissue will progress to severe abnormalities and very occasionally to cervical cancer. However the overwhelming majority of HPV infections of the cervix never lead to cancer. Most HPV infections seem to go away by themselves, or with simple treatment from a specialist, without causing any cervical abnormalities. Cervical cancer can almost always be prevented by regular follow-up with cervical smears to detect and treat pre-cancerous changes before they go on to become invasive cervical cancer.

The most important thing to do now is to discuss the treatment and follow-up of the cervical wart with your specialist.