HPV-related cancers often take years to develop after getting an HPV infection.
Cervical cancer usually develops over 10 or more years.
There can be a long interval between being infected with HPV, the development of abnormal cells on the cervix and the development of cervical cancer.
Some, but not all, women and people with a cervix with high-grade abnormalities on the cervix will develop cervical cancer if they are not treated.
The progression of anal cancer is thought to be similar to the progression from HPV infection to cervical cancer.