HPV Vaccination Could Reduce Cervical Cancer Cases And Deaths In Mexico By 60 Percent

Main Category: Immune System / Vaccines
Also Included In: Cancer / Oncology;  Women's Health / Gynecology;  Cervical Cancer / HPV Vaccine
Article Date: 17 Oct 2006 - 0:00 PDT

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At the 11th biennial meeting of the International Gynecologic Cancer Society (IGCS) underway in Santa Monica, CA, the potential impact of widespread adoption of HPV vaccination among girls in Mexico was described.

In a study, "HPV-Vaccination Impact on Cervical Cancer Incidence and Mortality in Mexico: A Cancer Registry Based Model," a team from the Mexican Institute of Social Security (Instituto Mexicano Del Seguro Social), the Mexican Institute of Public Health (Instituto Nacional de Salud Publica) and GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) concluded that HPV vaccination targeting HPV subtypes 16 and 18 could reduce cervical cancer cases and deaths by 60 percent.

"We saw the biggest impact if we could vaccinate girls at age 10," said Dr. B. Standaert, a health economist at Glaxo Smith Kline Biologicals, Rixensart, Belgium. "If we were able to vaccinate all girls in Mexico at that age, then the number of cases of cervical cancer could drop from 11,059 to 4,514 (59% reduction) and the number of deaths from cervical cancer from 5,104 to 2,083 (59% reduction). If we vaccinate all women at 25 years, we think we would see a 21% reduction in cases and a 37% reduction in deaths."

Dr. Adriana Bermudez, who is professor of gynecologic oncology at the University of Buenos Aires in Argentina and vice-president elect of the IGCS, commented, "This study shows the potential, and I emphasize the word potential, impact of the new prophylactic HPV vaccines in the Americas. We will need a major public-private partnership to make these vaccines available to the girls and women of the Americas, as well as a major educational campaign to alert parents to the importance of protecting their daughters from cervical cancer."

Cervical cancer is the second leading cause of cancer deaths among women worldwide. The World Health Organization has estimated that each year over 500,000 women will be diagnosed with cervical cancer and over 300,000 women will die of cervical cancer.

Cervical cancer is caused by chronic infection with high-risk subtypes of the human papillomavirus (HPV). Two of these high-risk subtypes, 16 and 18, cause more than 60% of cervical cancers globally. Both GSK and Merck have developed prophylactic HPV vaccines targeting HPV 16 and 18, with technology licensed from the U.S. National Cancer Institute, the University of Queensland, Australia, the University of Rochester, and Georgetown University. These vaccines, Cervarix(TM)(GSK) and Gardisil(R)(Merck), prevent infection with HPV subtypes 16 and 18. Gardisil also protects against infection with low-risk HPV subtypes 6 and 11, which do not cause cancer but do cause vulvar and vaginal warts.

The International Gynecologic Cancer Society is a not-for-profit professional society with 1200 members from 80 countries dedicated to reducing the global burden of women's cancers through education and research. IGCS meetings are held every two years, rotating between the Americas, Asia, and Europe/ Africa. Additional information on the IGCS may be found at http://www.igcs.org; additional information on the scientific program for the 11th biennial IGCS meeting may be found at http://www.kenes.com/igcs-11.

International Gynecologic Cancer Society
http://www.igcs.org