Study finds vaccination may prevent cervical cancer
The combined results of four similar trials around the world found for girls who have never had sex, the vaccines are 99% effective.
When the data from women who may have already been exposed to the sexually transmitted virus were included, effectiveness fell to 44%.
Currently there are two rival vaccines against the human papillomavirus (HPV) linked to cervical cancer.
One, Gardasil, is available in Ireland. The other, Cervarix, has so far only been approved in Australia.
The Future II series of trials enrolled 20,583 women aged 15 to 26 from North and South America, Europe, Asia and the Pacific.
Around 9,000 were given a course of Gardasil jabs, which protect against the two strains of HPV responsible for most cases of cervical cancer. About 12,000 received a component of the vaccine, and the remainder were administered a non-active dummy injection.
Healthy women who had no record of abnormal cervical smears and had a life time history of less than four or five sexual partners, were eligible.
Results were published yesterday in The Lancet medical journal. The researchers concluded: “The results of this ... HPV vaccine programme provide strong evidence that implementation of HPV vaccination campaigns in pre-adolescent girls and young adult women will reduce rates of cervical cancer worldwide.”
Globally, around 500,000 new cases of cervical cancer are diagnosed each year, 80% in developing countries. An estimated 250,000 women die from the disease each year.
In an accompanying article in The Lancet, Dr Maurie Markman, from the University of Texas in Houston, US, said there were still unanswered questions about HPV vaccination. These included how long the vaccine will work, the best age at which to administer it, and the cost of vaccination.
Dr Markman also questioned whether men and boys should be vaccinated against HPV, since they can pass the virus onto women.
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