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2003/09/23
The Human Papillomavirus (HPV) is the main
cause of the cancer, and around 15 high-risk types have been
identified in all.
But Spanish researchers told the European Cancer Conference
(ECCO) in Copenhagen, Denmark, that a type called HPV 16 accounts
for around 64% of cases in the US and Europe.
The second most common variety, HPV 18, accounts for around
another 8% of cases.
Scientists around the world are currently developing vaccines
to protect against the HPV virus, and deciding which varieties
they should act against. The first vaccine could be ready in
around three years.
The drug company GlaxoSmithKline plans to start advanced international
trials of its vaccine next year.
It will be targeted at thousands of women aged 15 to 25 in
six or seven countries, including the UK.
Ultimately, the plan is to give the vaccine to girls as young
as 11 or 12, and possibly to boys, who can carry the infection
and transmit it through unprotected sex.
It is estimated that up to 20% of women aged 18 to 22 in the
UK carry a variety of HPV.
In Europe, there are 65,000 new cases of cervical cancer each
year causing 21,000 deaths.
Costly
Researchers from the Institut Catala d'Oncologia in Barcelona
looked at data from 3,000 of cases of cervical cancer from
around the world.
Dr Xavier Bosch who led the research, told BBC News Online: "We
concluded that, globally, HPV 16 accounted for 56 to 62% of
cervical cancers - in Europe, it was more like 64%."
He said it was important to get the right combination in the
vaccines that were being developed.
"In Europe and North America a vaccine including HPV
16 and 18 - the most common types of the virus - would prevent
72%
of cases among the vaccinated.
"A vaccine containing types 16, 18, 33, 31 and 45
would cover 84% of the cases.
"But 16 and 18 have to be there."
He admitted that research into a cervical cancer vaccine was
still at a relatively early stage, and would be expensive to
introduce.
But he added: "The gains in the longer term would be huge,
both in terms of healthcare costs and in women's quality of
life.
"In the meantime, participation in effective screening
programmes, particularly if they include HPV testing, can detect
and prevent
many potential cases of cervical cancer at a very early stage."
BBC NEWS
© BBC MMIII
Read more about Human
papillomavirus and cervical cancer here.
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