Women 65+ still at heightened risk of cervical cancer caused by HPV

But screening usually discontinued for them if previous smear tests normal Global incidence rising in this age group; rethink of guideline recommendations needed

BMJ Group

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Women aged 65 and above are still at heightened risk of cervical cancer caused by human papillomavirus (HPV), suggest the findings of a large observational study published in the open access journal Gynecology and Obstetrics Clinical Medicine.

But most guidelines currently recommend discontinuing screening for the disease in women aged 65+ if they have had previously normal smear tests. Yet global cases of cervical cancer have been rising among women in this age group, prompting the researchers to call for a policy rethink.

Recent data from the World Health Organization indicate that there were 157,182 new cases in women in this age group and 124,269 deaths from the disease worldwide in 2022.

In light of these trends, they sought to analyse cervical cancer screening data to identify characteristics of high risk HPV infection among older women, including infection rates and genotype distribution, as well as the prevalence of cervical intraepithelial grade 2 or worse (CIN2+).

CIN2 indicates moderately abnormal cells in the cervical lining. CIN2 may clear up on its own, but it may also progress to more serious abnormalities and cervical cancer if left untreated.

The researchers retrospectively analysed cervical cancer screening data, which included HPV vaccination status, from 628 different types of healthcare facilities across Shenzhen, China, collected between 2017 and 2023. 

High risk HPV infection results were categorised as none, single, double, triple or multiple.

Any woman with abnormal test results (HPV+ smear test) on initial screening was referred for colposcopy—a procedure that enables closer examination of the cervix under a microscope. Biopsy specimens were taken if any suspicious cells were detected.

In all, 2,580,829 women were screened for cervical cancer between 2017 and 2023, and complete data were available for 2,152,766 of them.

Their average age was 40, with most aged between 25 and 54. Only just over 2% had been vaccinated against HPV. Some 17420 (just under 1%) were aged 65 and above; the remainder (2,135, 346) were younger. 

Most (92%) tested negative for high risk HPV genotypes: just over 2% tested positive for HPV16/18; and just under 6% were infected with other HPV genotypes. 

Just over 4% (89,148) of the women were referred for colposcopy, and suspicious abnormalities were identified in 42% (37,418) of them.

The prevalence of high risk HPV infections and CIN2+ were higher in women aged 65+ than they were in those who were younger 

Among the older women, nearly 14% tested positive for high risk HPV genotypes, compared with 8% of those who were younger.

Older women were also more likely (23% vs 16.5%) to be infected with several different types of HPV and more likely to have abnormalities picked up on screening (just over 7% vs just over 4%).

Similarly, the percentage of CIN2+ abnormalities picked up during colposcopy was higher in the older women: 14% vs 9%. Overall, the detection rate of CIN2+ was very low (58) in the older women compared with 3320 in those who were younger. 

And the cancer detection rate was similarly very low (16) for the over 65s, although it was much lower (205) among those who were younger.

The distribution of single and double high risk HPV infections differed in their potential to cause CIN2+, and the distribution differed from that of younger women.

Single, double, and triple high risk HPV infections were also more common among the older women: 10.5% (1839);  nearly 2.5% (404); and just over 0.5% (99), respectively, with associated CIN2+ rates of 2%, 3%, and 4%, respectively. 

The most common genotypes in older women were HPV52, HPV16, HPV58, HPV56 and HPV68,with HPV18, HPV16, and HPV33 associated primarily with CIN2+, along with frequent double infections, such as HPV52/58, HPV16/52 and HPV52/56. 

And the greater the number of high risk HPV infections, the greater was the risk of CIN2+ in the older women. It was 56 times higher for a single infection, rising to 66 times higher for double infection, and 85.5 for 3 or more. 

These risks were higher in the younger women, after accounting for potentially influential factors, such as ethnicity and vaccination status.

This is an observational study, and as such, no definitive conclusions can be drawn about causal factors. The researchers also acknowledge that the data were taken from women who had been screened, and the over 65s aren’t included in China’s screening programme for cervical cancer. The study was also confined to one region of China only. And there were only a few high risk HPV infections detected in the older women.

Nevertheless, the researchers say: “These data indicate that women [aged 65 and above] are a high-risk group for cervical cancer incidence and mortality, necessitating urgent attention from countries worldwide.”

They continue: “Most guidelines suggest stopping screening for those with adequate primary screening and no high-risk factors, particularly for women under 65. However, the situation differs for those over 65, who may not have been vaccinated or thoroughly screened. With increasing life expectancy, the risk of cervical cancer in this demographic is significantly heightened.” 

Declining immunity and postmenopausal hormonal changes  might increase susceptibility to high risk HPV infection and cervical cancer risk, especially if these women missed early screening, they add.

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Journal

Gynecology and Obstetrics Clinical Medicine

DOI

10.1136/gocm-2025-000238 

Method of Research

Observational study

Subject of Research

People

Article Title

High-risk HPV distribution and importance of continuing cervical cancer screening of women aged 65 years and older: a study based on 2 152 766 women in China

Article Publication Date

1-Jul-2025

 

Effective therapies needed to halt rise in eco-anxiety, says psychology professor

Taylor & Francis Group

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More must be done to address the growth in anxiety related to climate change, says a leading psychologist, before it becomes the next mental health crisis.

In his book Understanding Climate Anxiety, Geoff Beattie documents how climate anxiety is on the rise, especially amongst young people. Yet support is limited and sufferers face stigma because of the polarised debate around whether the climate crisis even exists, he says.

Understanding Climate Anxiety offers psychological tips and guidance on how to handle climate anxiety, especially important in the current political landscape which has seen a shift away from green targets.

“Climate anxiety is growing. It can be overwhelming and induce a form of psychological ‘eco‑paralysis’, impacting on both sleep and daily activities,” writes Professor Beattie from Edge Hill University.

Strategies outlined in the book include processing thoughts, feelings and fears about climate change by writing them down. He points out that research has demonstrated  that mental well-being  can be improved in people who are asked to write personal narratives over several days about their difficult emotional experiences.

“Reducing climate anxiety, and helping people deal more effectively with their negative emotions regarding climate change, is a pressing issue for us all. We need people to overcome their feelings of helplessness through this disinhibition of thoughts and feelings, and understand that positive action and change is possible,” Professor Beattie adds. The book is timely especially given that 2024 was the hottest year on record, and research suggests that one in five young people are afraid to bring children into a warming world.

However, climate change deniers reject the clear consensus amongst scientists that climate change is happening.

Understanding Climate Anxiety reviews the scientific evidence on climate change and discusses anxiety and other emotions triggered by this. It explains why it’s becoming so prevalent, and how it differs from other types of anxiety.

The book describes climate anxiety as a new type of anxiety shaped by the modern world and ‘the high carbon economies and industries that have flourished since the industrial revolution’.

Climate anxiety is caused by fear of environmental doom but experts disagree on how the condition should be measured and defined. Professor Beattie says this chronic form of psychological distress does not fit neatly with other clinically recognised forms of anxiety.

The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of the American Psychiatric Association (DSM-5), the standard classification of mental disorders used by mental health professionals in the United States and internationally, does not currently include climate anxiety and no specific support exists in national health services.

Professor Beattie points out that others forms of new trauma like ‘shell shock’ arising from the prolonged trench warfare of the First World War, were also slow to be clinically recognised. These days we refer to shell shock as ‘Post Traumatic Stress Disorder’.

The broadcaster and academic says the scepticism and hostility targeted at people with climate change anxiety is similar in some respects to that shown towards traumatised troops in WWI: “Extraordinary now, when we look back,” he says.

He points out that climate change denial is a major factor for climate anxiety being dismissed as a hysterical reaction with many high-profile global figures dismissing the climate crisis as fiction.

A high-profile figure who has talked openly about the climate crisis and her own severe climate anxiety is activist Greta Thunberg.

This led to her ‘our house is on fire’ speech to the World Economic Forum in 2019. Professor Beattie says millions disregarded her message because it instilled too much fear without simultaneously telling them what they could do to change things. He writes: “Greta Thunberg was trying to remove all doubt with her simple message, with no ambiguity and no window dressing. But the problem is that too much fear in any message without addressing the issues of self-efficacy is also not an effective way of gaining compliance.”

Instead, Professor Beattie says people need to feel strong and empowered that they have ‘agency’ to change the future of the Earth in a positive way through their individual, societal and political actions. There is hope, but change begins with us.”

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DOI

10.4324/9781032631882 

 

Nature-friendly farming boosts biodiversity and yields but may require new subsidies

Comprehensive on-farm trials investigated financial viability of agroecological methods

UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology

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An in-field wildflower strip planted as part of the trials.

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Credit: UKCEH

Farming methods that support nature improve both biodiversity and crop yields but more extensive measures may require increased government subsidies to become as profitable as conventional intensive agriculture. That is the finding of the first comprehensive on-farm trials of their kind in the UK, which were led by the UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology (UKCEH) and Rothamsted Research.

This four-year study across 17 conventional, commercial farms in southern England not only trialled various agroecological methods but also – for the first time – the financial viability for businesses.

It showed that incorporating nature-friendly practices within farming – agroecology – increases biodiversity, pollination by bees, natural pest control and numbers of earthworms. This boosted crop yield, but the cost of creating the habitats and the loss of some productive land on which to create these habitats affected the profitability of these systems. New subsidies may therefore be required to support farms’ transition to sustainable agriculture.

Trialling agroecological methods

Scientists at UKCEH and Rothamsted worked with farmers to co-develop the trials using simple management practices within three different agricultural systems on each of the farms:

1) Business-as-usual – typical intensive agriculture and no nature-friendly farming.

2) An ’enhanced’ ecological farming system which involved planting wildflower field margins to provide habitat for bees, beetles and spiders, and sowing overwinter cover crops to capture carbon and retain nutrients in the soil.

3) A ‘maximised’ ecological system’ which added to the enhanced system  by also planting in-field strips of wildflowers – ‘stripey fields’ – to provide ‘runways’ for beneficial insects to get further into crops, and the addition of organic matter in the form of farmyard manure to improve soil health.

Benefits for nature and farmers

The study found that in the enhanced and maximised ecological systems, there were increased populations of earthworms, pollinators such as bees and hoverflies, as well as natural predators of crop pests such as ladybirds, lacewings and spiders. This reduced populations of pest aphids and snails, and increased the seed numbers and thereby yield of flowering crops like oilseed rape.

There was also higher soil carbon and overall increased crop yields on the farmed area due to healthier soils, greater pollination and natural pest control. The study also found the enhanced ecological system was as profitable as intensive farming, but only due to agri-environmental subsidies.

While the various benefits for biodiversity, soil carbon and yield were greater in the maximised ecological system – which included planting in-field wildflower strips and buying in farmyard manure – the study found that the average farm would require increased subsidies to make it as profitable as intensive farming. Though the additional cost can be offset in certain situations because, for example, mixed farms already have free and easy access to manure.

Future-proofing farms

UKCEH ecologist Dr Ben Woodcock, who led the study, published in the Journal of Applied Ecology, explained: “Without the introduction of new financial incentives, many farmers will be deterred from adopting agroecological farming practices and systems. This could leave them locked into high input, intensive farming systems and more exposed to the impacts of pesticide resistance, declining soil health and climate change.

“While farmers run businesses that need to be profitable, there is an increasing awareness that more sustainable systems can help ‘future-proof’ their farms in terms of soil health, less reliance on pesticides  and climate change.

“Agroecological methods are good for biodiversity, food security and, in the long-term, provide more secure farm incomes but habitats can take several years to establish, so agri-environment subsidies are essential to helping farmers transition to these more sustainable systems.”

The study authors say demonstrating the effectiveness of agroecological practices to farmers could be a critical step breaking farmers free from 'intensification traps'.

Professor Jonathan Storkey, an ecologist at Rothamsted Research, said: “This study confirmed that managing land on farms for wildlife is not in direct conflict with food security but can support sustainable production by increasing yields and reducing pest pressure. These ‘ecosystem services’ could potentially substitute for chemical fertilisers and pesticides which negatively impact the environment.

“However, our analysis has shown that realising these benefits will require additional support for farm businesses that currently operate on very narrow profit margins. As input costs increase, however, these agroecological approaches may become more attractive.”

Training improves habitat quality

Furthermore, training and increasing experience will enable farmers to get the most out of measures that support nature like wildflower field margins, for the types of habitats needed to support beneficial insects have very different requirements to crops.

Previous UKCEH research has shown that training farmers in the establishment and management of wildlife habitats improves their quality and effectiveness in supporting beneficial insects like bees.

The agroecological trials (2018-2021) were part of a long-term collaboration involving UKCEH and Rothamsted, partners in research, government and industry, and farmers to develop sustainable, resilient agricultural systems that boost biodiversity and crop production. Work has been funded by the Natural Environment Research Council and the Biotechnology & Biological Sciences Research Council.

You can find out more about the research from scientists at UKCEH’s stand (DF C36) at the Groundswell regenerative agriculture festival in Hertfordshire on 2 and 3 July 2025.

- Ends -

Media enquiries

For interviews with one of the scientists or Julian Gold, farm manager of the East Hendred estate, which took part in the trials, or further information, please contact Simon Williams, Media Relations Officer at UKCEH, via simwil@ceh.ac.uk or +44 (0)7920 295384

Alternatively, please come along to the UKCEH stand at Groundswell. Dr Ben Woodcock will be there Thursday 3 July.

Notes to Editors

Woodcock et al. 2025. Agroecological farming promotes yield and biodiversity but may require subsidy to be profitable. Journal of Applied Ecology. DOI: 10.1111/1365-2664.70079. Open access.

The study involved scientists from UKCEH, Rothamsted Research, the Czech Academy of Sciences, the National Trust and the Wildlife Farming Company. It was part of the former ASSIST programme, since succeeded by the AgZero+ programme.

About the UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology (UKCEH)

The UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology (UKCEH) is a leading independent research institute dedicated to understanding and transforming how we interact with the natural world. 

With over 600 researchers, we tackle the urgent environmental challenges of our time, such as climate change and biodiversity loss. Our evidence-based insights empower governments, businesses and communities to make informed decisions, shaping a future where both nature and people thrive.

ceh.ac.uk / BlueSky: @ukceh.bsky.social / LinkedIn: UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology

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Journal

Journal of Applied Ecology

DOI

10.1111/1365-2664.70079 

Method of Research

Experimental study

Article Title

Agroecological farming promotes yield and biodiversity but may require subsidy to be profitable

Article Publication Date

1-Jul-2025

 SPACE/COSMOS

Milky Way-like galaxy M83 consumes high-speed clouds

Unusually fast clouds of gas around nearby galaxy suggest extragalactic origin

University of Tokyo

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Multiple images like this, made by radioastronomy, allowed researchers to measure the velocities of small clouds of gas against the more general movement of the galactic disk itself. Ellipses 1-10 show the locations and sizes of HVC candidates. ©2025 Nagata et al. CC-BY-ND

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Credit: ©2025 Nagata et al. CC-BY-ND

Researchers discover high-velocity clouds in the nearby spiral galaxy M83. These clouds are moving at speeds significantly different to the galaxy’s overall speed of rotation. The findings suggest that these clouds likely originated outside the galaxy, offering new insights into how galaxies acquire fresh gas and sustain star formation over billions of years. This hints at how our own galaxy evolved and may evolve in the future.

Maki Nagata is a graduate student and astronomer at the University of Tokyo’s Institute of Astronomy. Recently, she and her colleagues were trying to solve a long-standing question in astronomy: “How do galaxies manage to sustain star formation for billions of years?” The reason for asking this being, when you look at a galaxy such as our own Milky Way, it’s estimated that star formation should cease within about a billion years, yet it’s still going on. This suggested to Nagata’s team that there must be additional sources of matter constantly feeding galaxies, so they set out to find them.

“Gas clouds are a common feature of galaxies. Some are classed as high-velocity clouds (HVCs) and we suspected these might account for some of this galactic feeding material,” said Nagata. “What makes HVCs special is that their speed and direction don’t correspond to the general speed of rotation or the orientation of a typical spiral galaxy. This alone doesn’t necessarily mean they come from outside the host galaxy, though one scenario is that they start as material ejected by supernova, exploding stars. But we thought with the right analysis and reasoning, we could tell if at least some HVCs were from outside the galaxy.”

Identifying and verifying many clouds, including the HVCs, was one of the major challenges of the study. They had to carefully tune the detection parameters to ensure that real signals stood out clearly from background noise without missing genuine clouds. HVCs were then defined as clouds moving at least 50 kilometers per second faster or slower than the rotation of the galactic disk. Of the 10 clouds that met this criterion, only one coincided with the position of a known supernova remnant. The remaining nine could not be accounted for by supernovas or other local processes. Their kinetic energies also exceeded the levels expected from supernova ejecta, indicating that these clouds may have originated from outside the galaxy and are currently falling into it.

“Our results show that galaxies are not isolated but constantly interact with their surroundings. The discovery of HVCs falling into M83 suggests that galaxies can grow by accreting gas from the space around them, possibly from smaller neighboring galaxies or the intergalactic medium,” said Nagata. “While HVCs are typically low-density atomic hydrogen gas, something that surprised us in this study was that the clouds were found to be compact and made of dense molecular gas, exactly the type of gas that forms new stars. This suggests that the inflowing material may be directly connected to future star formation.”

As M83 is similar to the Milky Way, studying how HVCs influence star formation could tell us about our own distant past or far future. However, although HVCs were first discovered in the Milky Way, it’s hard to measure key properties about them for long-term projections, such as their distances, masses and motions. This is because we are inside our own galaxy; hence, why a nearby galaxy was chosen instead.

“Our next steps include investigating how these molecular HVCs formed and whether they were once atomic gas,” said Nagata. “By examining their relationship to other gas structures such as neutral atomic hydrogen. We will also explore whether these inflowing clouds could trigger new star formation when they collide with the galaxy’s disk. This would finally help answer the outstanding question we asked ourselves before.”

False color images of the HVCs also include a measure of size, 50pc (parsecs) is over 150 light years. ©2025 Nagata et al. CC-BY-ND

Credit

©2025 Nagata et al. CC-BY-ND

An optical image of M83. ©2025 ESO CC-BY-ND

Credit

©2025 ESO CC-BY-ND

Journal: Maki Nagata, Fumi Egusa, Fumiya Maeda, Kazuki Tokuda, Kotaro Kohno, Kana Morokuma-Matsui, and Jin Koda, “High-Velocity Molecular Clouds in M83”, The Astrophysical Journal, DOI: 10.3847/1538-4357/addab7, https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/1538-4357/addab7

Funding: This work was partly supported by JSPS KAKENHI grants JP23K13142, 20H00172, JP23K20035 and JP24H00004. NSF grants AST-2006600 and AST-2406608. NAOJ ALMA Scientific Research grant 2022-22B. ALMA Japan Research Grant of NAOJ ALMA Project, NAOJ-ALMA-355.

 

Useful links:

Graduate School of Science - https://www.s.u-tokyo.ac.jp/en/

Institute of Astronomy - https://www.ioa.s.u-tokyo.ac.jp/en/  

 

About The University of Tokyo:

The University of Tokyo is Japan's leading university and one of the world's top research universities. The vast research output of some 6,000 researchers is published in the world's top journals across the arts and sciences. Our vibrant student body of around 15,000 undergraduate and 15,000 graduate students includes over 5,000 international students. Find out more at www.u-tokyo.ac.jp/en/ or follow us on X (formerly Twitter) at @UTokyo_News_en.

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Journal

The Astrophysical Journal

DOI

10.3847/1538-4357/addab7 

Method of Research

Observational study

Subject of Research

Not applicable

Article Title

High-Velocity Molecular Clouds in M83

Article Publication Date

30-Jun-2025

SwRI, UTSA selected by NASA to test electrolyzer technology aboard parabolic flight

Research aims to address NASA’s technology shortfalls and support future missions to Moon, Mars

Southwest Research Institute

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image: 

NASA’s TechLeap Prize competition selected an SwRI/UTSA team to develop an electrolyzer through its Space Technology Payload Challenge. This gif illustrates how gas bubbles form and move at different rates at Earth (top), Martian (middle) and Lunar (bottom) gravity. Building on this earlier SwRI-led research, the team will flight test a UTSA-developed electrolyzer technology designed to improve the production of propellants and life-support compounds on other worlds.

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Credit: Southwest Research Institute

SAN ANTONIO — July 1, 2025 —Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) and The University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) will receive a $500,000 award from NASA’s TechLeap Prize program to flight test novel electrolyzer technology designed to improve the production of propellants and life-support compounds on the Moon, Mars or near-Earth asteroids. The project, known as the Mars Atmospheric Reactor for Synthesis of Consumables (MARS-C), is led by SwRI’s Kevin Supak and Dr. Eugene Hoffman and UTSA’s Dr. Shrihari “Shri” Sankarasubramanian.

TechLeap prizes are designed to support future missions by advancing transformative solutions that address NASA’s technology shortfalls. The SwRI/UTSA group is one of nine winners funded to test their payloads on suborbital, hosted orbital or parabolic flights. The program aims to accelerate the technology testing timeline, allowing completion within a year of the award.

SwRI and UTSA will evaluate the performance of a patent-pending electrolyzer developed with NASA support by Sankarasubramanian, an assistant professor in UTSA’s Department of Biomedical and Chemical Engineering, and his team. The device applies a voltage across two electrodes to drive the electrochemical conversion of a simulated Martian brine and carbon dioxide into methane and other hydrocarbons. This technology is designed to use local resources on the Moon or Mars to produce fuel, oxygen and other life support compounds needed for long-term human habitation..

The work builds on previous research conducted by SwRI, which involved studying boiling processes under partial gravity aboard parabolic flights. Designed to understand how liquids might behave on lunar or Martian surfaces, the research demonstrated that partial gravity affects surface bubble dynamics, which can affect gas production rates.

“In a partial gravity environment, like the Moon or Mars, a reduced buoyancy effect on gas bubbles in an electrolyzer poses challenges that aren’t present on Earth,” Supak said. “We lack an understanding about chemical processes that leverage bubble nucleation in low gravity, which is the gap we aim to fill.”

To address this, SwRI and UTSA will integrate the technology into an existing SwRI-built flight rig and test it aboard a parabolic flight, capitalizing on the Institute’s successful history testing technology in reduced gravity aircraft and suborbital spacecraft.

“We plan to acquire bubble nucleation and fluid motion videos in an operating electrolyzer during the parabolic flight,” Sankarasubramanian said. “Understanding these processes can help us improve the overall efficiency and performance of these electrolyzers.”

After the flight rig is complete, SwRI will conduct ground tests before the parabolic flight to establish operating procedures and ensure a successful demonstration. The flight is currently planned for 2026.

“Humans have an intrinsic drive to push the boundaries of what’s possible. Exploring space catalyzes technological advancements that have far-reaching benefits in our daily lives — often unanticipated innovations arise as a direct result of overcoming the unique challenges of space exploration,” Supak said. “Establishing permanent presences on other planetary bodies could pave the way for unprecedented scientific discoveries and technological breakthroughs.”

For more information, visit https://www.swri.org/markets/energy-environment/oil-gas/fluids-engineering/space-fluids-engineering.