Kristen Forbes died in 2008, just a year after she was diagnosed with cervical cancer caused by a virus.
Her story is one of five being shared by filmmakers Tuesday during a screening of “Someone you Love: The HPV Epidemic” at the Moffitt Cancer Center.
HPVs, or human papillomaviruses, are the most common sexually transmitted infections, according to the Centers for Disease Control. At some point, nearly all sexually-active men and women get one of the 150 viruses that can cause genital warts and various cancers.
HPV infections also account for about five percent of all cancers worldwide, according to the National Cancer Institute. However, most infections don’t cause symptoms or cancer, and go away in a couple years.
The filmmakers, Frederic Lumeire and Mark Hefti, want to shed light on HPV and the vaccine that can prevent it.
Kristen, 23, died before the film was made. Her father, Kirk Forbes, tells her story. The filmmakers touched base with him after he published a book about Kristen’s battle with cancer and started the Kristen Forbes EVE Foundation.
The Foundation's goal is to educate women and men about HPV, its tie to cervical cancer, the ability to screen for HPV through PAP smears and HPV tests, and the HPV vaccines.
"Back when Kristen first was diagnosed with cancer, we had no idea what HPV was, let alone what the acronym stood for,” Kirk Forbes said. “We had no idea it could cause cancer. We had no idea there was a vaccination."
The screening is on Tuesday, April 14, from 9 to 11:30 a.m. It’s being held in the Ted & Marty Couch Auditorium at Moffitt Cancer Center’s Vincent A. Stabile Research Building, 12902 Magnolia Dr.
Daylina Miller is a reporter with WUSF in Tampa. Health News Florida receives support from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
