What Types of STDs Cause Cancer?

A handful of sexually transmitted infections raise cancer risk, almost always by setting up a long, often silent infection that damages cells over years. The main culprits are HPV (cervical, anal, throat, and other cancers), hepatitis B and hepatitis C (liver cancer), and HIV (which weakens immune defenses against several cancers). A test tells you which one you have.

Which STIs raise your cancer risk?

These four viruses share a pattern: they tend to linger quietly. Cancer here is the late consequence of an infection that persisted long enough to change how cells grow. Each can be present for years before anything feels wrong, so screen rather than wait for something to feel off.

HPV & genital warts

HPV is the most common STI CDC, HPV, and it comes in two broad flavors. Low-risk types cause genital warts, which usually show up as a small bump or group of bumps in the genital area. High-risk types are tied to cancer of the cervix, anus, penis, vagina, vulva, and throat, and these are typically silent. Most HPV infections cause no symptoms and no clinical disease at all, so you can't feel high-risk HPV the way you can see a wart. Warts can appear months or years after exposure, and the moment of acquisition can't be pinned down CDC warts. Read more on hpv & genital warts.

Visible warts point to low-risk HPV. The cancer-causing types reveal themselves only through screening, a Pap or HPV test on the cervix. There's no routine HPV test for men, adolescents, or women under age 30 CDC Pink Book, so for those groups it's clinical exam and, where appropriate, anal or oral evaluation rather than a screening swab.

Hepatitis B

Hepatitis B is a vaccine-preventable liver infection caused by HBV CDC, HBV. It spreads through blood and sex. Acute infection is the short-term illness in the first six months after exposure; chronic infection lasts beyond six months and can be lifelong, and the chronic form scars the liver and drives liver cancer. Many people have no symptoms. When acute symptoms do appear, they can include fatigue, fever, poor appetite, nausea, abdominal pain, dark urine, clay-colored stools, joint pain, and jaundice (yellowing of the skin and eyes from a backed-up liver pigment). Most people with chronic HBV feel nothing while the damage accumulates. Symptoms, when they come, average about 90 days after exposure (range 60–150 days) CDC surveillance. See hepatitis b symptoms for the full picture.

Hepatitis C

Hepatitis C is a liver disease caused by HCV, spread when infected blood enters another person CDC, HCV. Most people who get infected develop a chronic, lifelong infection, and over decades that inflammation can progress to cirrhosis (heavy scarring that stiffens the liver) and liver cancer. It's the quietest of the group. Most infections cause no symptoms, jaundice occurs in only about 20–30% of people, and nonspecific symptoms like fatigue, poor appetite, abdominal pain, and dark urine in roughly 10–20% CDC HCV clinical. Chronic hepatitis C often causes no specific symptoms for 20 years or more. Symptoms, if any, average 2–12 weeks after exposure (range 2–26 weeks). Unlike hepatitis B, hepatitis C can now be cured, and treatment works in more than 95% of people. Learn about the hepatitis c cure.

HIV

HIV is a virus that attacks the immune system CDC, HIV. It doesn't cause cancer directly the way HPV does; by weakening immune surveillance, it raises the risk of several cancers, especially in advanced disease. HIV moves through three stages: acute (very high viral load and very contagious), chronic or clinical latency (the virus stays active and can last a decade or more untreated), and AIDS, the most severe stage, defined by a CD4 count under 200 cells/mm³ or an opportunistic infection. Within 2 to 4 weeks of infection, many people develop flu-like symptoms, called acute retroviral syndrome, with fever, chills, rash, night sweats, muscle aches, sore throat, fatigue, swollen lymph nodes, and mouth ulcers hiv.gov. Some people have no symptoms at all, and these can be mistaken for other illnesses, so testing is the only way to know. After the acute phase, people often go years without symptoms before the AIDS stage brings opportunistic infections. Starting treatment early protects both your health and your partners — see how earlier hiv treatment can help prevention.

How to tell them apart

You usually can't by symptoms alone. These infections overlap too much, and several are frequently silent. Fatigue, dark urine, and jaundice could point to hepatitis B or C; flu-like aches could be HIV or any common virus; a genital bump could be a wart or something benign. What separates them is how the virus spreads and where the damage lands: liver for the hepatitis viruses, immune system for HIV, cell surfaces of the genitals and throat for HPV. A test settles which one it is, if any.

That overlap is why self-diagnosis fails here. A test turns a guess into an answer, and because the cancer-driving forms are often the silent ones, waiting to feel sick won't work.

Side-by-side comparison

How it's tested

Each virus has its own test. Hepatitis B uses a triple serologic panel — HBsAg for active infection, anti-HBs for immunity or recovery, and total anti-HBc for past or current infection CDC HBV testing. CDC (2023) recommends screening all adults 18 and older at least once, and pregnant people each pregnancy CDC 2023. Hepatitis C starts with an HCV antibody test, and a positive result reflexes automatically to a NAT for HCV RNA to confirm current infection CDC HCV testing; CDC recommends one-time screening for all adults 18 and older, and USPSTF gives a Grade B recommendation for adults aged 18–79 USPSTF. HIV testing windows vary by test type — a NAT 10–33 days after exposure, a 4th-generation antigen/antibody lab test 18–45 days, and antibody or rapid tests 23–90 days; a negative is conclusive only after the window with no exposure during it CDC HIV testing. In practice testing is simple: a urine sample, a self-collected swab, a blood draw, or a quick exam depending on what's suspected, often free or low-cost at health departments, Planned Parenthood, and Title X clinics, with results usually back in a few days. You can get tested, and check when to test after exposure so you don't test too early.

What to do next

If a test comes back positive, the next step depends on which virus it is. Hepatitis C is curable with a short course of pills. Hepatitis B and HIV are managed long-term to keep the virus suppressed and the liver or immune system protected, and HPV care focuses on monitoring and treating any precancerous changes found on screening. The vaccine prevents hepatitis B, and HPV vaccination prevents the high-risk types before exposure. Whatever the result, follow it with a clinician who can match you to the right plan and the appropriate cancer screening schedule.

Red flags — when to get seen urgently

Don't wait for a routine appointment if you notice any of these:

• Yellowing of the skin or eyes (jaundice), especially with dark urine or clay-colored stools, which can mean significant liver involvement.
• Severe abdominal pain, persistent vomiting, or confusion in someone with known liver disease.
• A flu-like illness with fever, rash, and swollen lymph nodes within a few weeks of a possible HIV exposure, when early treatment matters most.
• A genital sore, bump, or growth that bleeds, grows quickly, or doesn't heal.
• Unexplained weight loss, drenching night sweats, or repeated infections, which can signal advanced HIV.