evidence: HPV is common – about 8 in 10 (80%) people will have it at some point in their lives. But cervical cancer itself is not common, which means that having high-risk HPV does not mean you will definitely develop cervical cancer. The risks for getting high-risk HPV and for developing cervical cancer are similar. Most researchers believe that the risks can be considered the same, as high-risk HPV causes almost all cervical cancers. [...] Research states that having high-risk HPV alone is not enough for cervical cancer to develop – there are usually other risks working in combination with high-risk HPV. We talk through these risks in this section.