The authors of a new study have found that the HPV vaccine can reduce the risk of cervical cancer by up to 90%.
The human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine reduces the risk of cervical cancer by up to 90%, according to data from the first large-scale study of its results in the general population. In 99% of cases, cervical cancer is caused by the papillomavirus, usually acquired through sexual transmission, and the results of this study provide hope that the HPV vaccine will be able to almost completely eradicate this type of cancer. Cancer Research UK, the UK’s leading cancer charity, said the discovery was historic and could save many lives.
Cervical cancer is the fourth most common cancer in women worldwide, killing hundreds of thousands of women each year. The authors of the study, published in the medical journal Lancet, have noted the changes that have occurred in girls who received the HPV vaccine in the UK in 2008 (now aged 20 to 30). It turns out that the number of precancerous lesions has decreased, and the risk of developing cervical cancer has been reduced by 87%. The HPV vaccine has been shown to be less effective in those vaccinated at an older age, as it prevents infection with the papillomavirus but is powerless in cases where the virus has already entered the body.
Due to the extremely widespread nature of this family of viruses, vaccination is recommended before becoming sexually active: WHO recommends vaccinating girls between the ages of 9 and 13. As of 2019, this vaccine will also be offered to boys in the UK. According to preliminary estimates, the HPV vaccination program has prevented approximately 450 cases of cervical cancer and more than 17,000 precancerous lesions. Professor Peter Sasieni of the Royal College of London said the research was just the tip of the iceberg, as the likelihood of developing cancer increases with age, meaning vaccination could prevent many more cases.
Cervical cancer is one of the most common cancers in women, killing more than 300,000 women worldwide each year. At the same time, in nine out of ten cases, the victims of the disease are women who live in low-income countries where it is extremely difficult to conduct regular cervical cancer screenings as recommended by doctors. More than 100 countries around the world have joined the WHO program to use the HPV vaccine to prevent cervical cancer.
In July of this year, Russia announced that it would begin testing its own vaccine against the human papillomavirus, which causes cervical cancer. According to the Ministry of Health data for 2018, cervical cancer was one of the most common types of cancer among women under 45 years old in Russia. This type of cancer is also the most deadly among women aged 30-35. According to the WHO, there are more than 100 types of human papillomavirus, at least 14 of which can cause cancer. HPV is primarily transmitted from person to person through oral, genital, and anal sexual contact. One of the cancer-causing viruses, human papillomavirus, causes dangerous changes in the DNA code of infected cells, turning them into cancerous cells. This can happen in any infected tissue. Other manifestations of papillomavirus infection include vaginal cancer, cancer of the external female genital organs, penile cancer, anal cancer, and certain types of head and neck cancer, according to the WHO.
“This is a historic moment – we have before us the first trial whose results show that the HPV vaccine has protected and will continue to protect thousands of women from developing the human papillomavirus,” said Cancer Research UK chief executive Michelle Mitchell.