Health
HPV vaccine has long-term benefits
NEWS IN BRIEF — Posted April 24, 2006
A vaccine against the virus that causes cervical cancer could protect women for up to 4½ years, according to a study published online April 6 by The Lancet.
Researchers continued to follow 800 women from an earlier trial that found the human papillomavirus vaccine to be safe and effective. The women had received three doses of HPV-16/HPV-18 vaccine or placebo.
The new study found that the vaccine has a good long-term safety profile and provides substantial long-term protection against cancerous cell changes associated with high-risk HPV types.
While the vaccine targets HPV-16 and HPV-18, which cause an estimated 70% of cervical cancer cases, it also was found to provide protection from infection with HPV-45 and HPV-31, the third- and fourth-most prevalent oncogenic types of HPV.
"These findings set the stage for the wide-scale adoption of HPV vaccination for prevention of cervical cancer," said lead author Diane Harper, MD, MPH, professor in Dartmouth Medical Schools' Dept. of OB/GYN and Dept. of Community and Family Medicine in Lebanon, New Hampshire.
Food and Drug Administration approval of the vaccine is expected by the end of the year.
Note: This item originally appeared at http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2006/04/24/hlbf0424.htm.
