HealthDay News — A vaccine meant to protect against nine types of human papillomavirus (HPV) could prevent 90% of all cervical cancers, according to research published in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention.
To estimate the prevalence and incidence of 14 types of HPV (6, 11, 16, 18, 31, 33, 35, 39, 45, 51, 52, 56, 58, 59), Elmar A. Joura, MD, of Medical University of Vienna, and colleagues examined data from 2,507 female patients with precancerous cervical lesions. The investigators found that all were caused by the nine types of HPV targeted by the vaccine being developed by Merck and Co and currently undergoing clinical trials.
Of the women aged 15 to 26 years, about one-third were infected with more than one HPV type. Of the participants aged 24 to 45, nearly one in five was infected with more than one type of HPV.
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“If 9-valent HPV vaccination programs are effectively implemented, the majority of CIN2 and CIN3 lesions worldwide could be prevented, in addition to approximately one-half of CIN1,” noted the researchers.
