From: kutchscience Hope for a Vaccine against cervical cancer :
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/3964263.stm


Smear tests can spot cancer
A vaccine that prevents infections known to cause cervical cancer could be
available to women within three years, UK experts believe.
By guarding against human papilloma virus, it could save thousands of
lives and may end the need for smears tests.

The vaccine would be given to girls before they are sexually active.

Trials have shown a jab can offer 100% protection against strains of HPV
linked to about 70% of cervical cancers.

Protection

Some forms of the HPV virus only cause genital warts, but others cause
cervical cancer.

It is estimated up to half of the young women in Britain have been
infected with a high-risk strain of HPV by the time they are 30.

The vaccine may even eventually mean the end of smear testing.

Dr Anne Szarewski from Cancer Research UK

'High risk' HPV types, strains 16, 18 and 31 and 33, have been found to be
present in close to 100% of all cervical cancers, according to the NHS Cancer
Screening Programmes.

Since cervical cancer is the second most common cause of cancer death in
women worldwide, preventing HPV would save many lives.

Both GlaxoSmithKline and Merck Sharp & Dohme have developed a vaccine
against HPV and are in a race to get their products approved.

The two vaccines are being tested in thousands of women around the world,
including the UK.

These will seek to confirm the vaccines' effectiveness and safely.

Cancer Research UK's Dr Anne Szarewski, who is trialling GSK's vaccine in
the Margaret Pyke Centre in London, said experts hoped that a course of three
injections over six months could provide life-long immunity.

She said: "We know that certain types of the HPV virus, which is sexually
transmitted, are the main cause of over 99 per cent of cervical cancer cases.

"With any disease caused by a virus, the best way to stop it is to prevent
it with a vaccine.

End to smears?

"I do feel that the work we are doing on this vaccine is the most exciting
development in cervical cancer research in many years.

"This research is promising and could result in almost completely
preventing cervical cancer.

I strongly urge all women to continue to attend for regular cervical
screening.

Dr Julietta Patnick, director of the NHS Cancer Screening Programmes

"The vaccine may even eventually mean the end of smear testing.

But she cautioned: "It is early days and the vaccine is still being
researched and will not be available for a few years."

Under the national screening programme, women aged 25 to 64 are invited to
have a smear test every three to five years, depending on their age.

Julietta Patnick, director of the programme, said: "The NHS Cervical
Screening Programme is alert to the trials of HPV vaccines for cervical
dysplasia and will monitor the results.

"As the developers acknowledge, however, there is still much research to
be done before we can determine the potential role HPV vaccination may play in
preventing cervical cancer.

"The NHS Cervical Screening Programme is highly successful, saving around
4,500 lives every year in England.

"I strongly urge all women to continue to attend for regular cervical
screening."

A spokesman from GlaxoSmithKline said the company planned to submit an
application to the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency in 2006
in the hope that its vaccine Cervarix could be made available in 2007.




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