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Trial Vaccine Might Reduce Risk of Cervical Cancer

Posted on: Tuesday, 2 November 2004, 06:00 CST

WASHINGTON -- Researchers reported evidence Monday that an experimental human papillomavirus vaccine can reduce the risk of cervical cancer.

In a six-year study of 2,391 women, participants were given either a placebo or an experimental vaccine for the most common strain of human papillomavirus, HPV 16, which causes about half of all cervical cancers.

The study was presented here at the Interscience Conference on Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, a meeting of the American Society for Microbiology, which ends today. Promising results of this cancer vaccine were first reported two years ago in The New England Journal of Medicine.

Eliav Barr, head of the HPV program at vaccine-developer Merck, says none of the 755 women who got the vaccine developed the pre-cancerous lesions that are an immediate precursor to cervical cancer, while in the placebo group of 750 women, there were 12 cases of lesions related to HPV 16. The vaccine was given in three doses over six months.

After four years, there were 111 cases of HPV 16 infection in the placebo group, compared with seven in the vaccine group.

''Overall efficacy of the vaccine was 94% in reducing infection or diseases, and 100% effective against (pre-cancerous lesions),'' Barr said.

''The study showed a clear effect in stopping carcinoma,'' said Scott Hammer of Columbia University, who was not involved in the research. ''This is very important for women's health around the world.''

Cervical cancer is rare in the USA, largely because of widespread use of screening with Pap smears, but it is a much larger problem elsewhere in the world. In the USA, cervical cancer claims 4,100 lives a year, but worldwide 232,000 women die from the disease.

HPV 16 is one of four strains of human papillomavirus included in a vaccine being tested now in a study that began in 2001 involving 25,000 women in 34 countries, Barr said. Results are expected by mid-2005.

The company may apply to federal regulators for a license by the end of next year, targeted to females ages 9 to 24.

In another study presented Monday, researcher Elena Bogatcheva of the biotech company Sequella Inc. in Rockville, Md., reported that a potential new drug to treat tuberculosis shows promise in test tube and animal studies.

The drug is undergoing further testing to see whether it can be used in human clinical trials. TB kills more than 2 million people a year, and drug-resistant forms of the illness are increasing, especially where HIV is prevalent.

Source: USA TODAY

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