HPV Vaccine Gets Good Review

Ivanhoe Newswire
Friday, June 1, 2007; 12:00 AM

(Ivanhoe Newswire) -- The recently introduced vaccine against the sexually transmitted human papillomavirus (HPV) really can prevent a significant number of cervical cancers.

According to data collected in a study involving women who received either the full vaccine, a partial vaccine, or a placebo, the HPV vaccine was 99 percent effective in protecting women who had yet to have sex and 44 percent effective in protecting women who had already had sex.

The study included more than 20,000 women between the ages of 16 and 26 in countries around the world.

"The results of this quadrivalent HPV vaccine program provide strong evidence that implementation of HPV vaccination campaigns in pre-adolescent girls and young adult women will reduce rates of cervical cancer worldwide," conclude the authors.

The results, however, are not likely to quell the debate over the vaccine that has raged in the United States and elsewhere since its introduction. In an accompanying comment, Maurie Markman, M.D., from the University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, notes significant hurdles remain, including:

• The inability of many countries to mount comprehensive vaccination programs
• Continuing controversy over whether vaccination should be voluntary or mandatory
• Unsubstantiated claims that HPV vaccination will encourage promiscuity
• And the belief by some that vaccination is not needed in developed countries because effective cervical cancer screening strategies already exist

Cervical cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death in women, with about 80 percent of cases diagnosed in developing countries. About 250,000 women die of the disease every year.

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SOURCE: The Lancet, published online May 31, 2007