Cervical cancer vaccine cuts disease rate by 2/3

Wed, 20 Jan 2010

Vaccination against cervical cancer can lower the risk of the disease in women aged less than 30 by two-thirds, experts say.

Human papillomavirus (HPV) had long been considered as the cause of cervical cancer. HPV vaccines were believed to be an effective tool in fighting the condition.

Recent studies have also considered HPV testing as a more responsive and sensitive tool compared with commonly performed smear tests in detecting cancer suffers.

According to a study published in the British Journal of Cancer, cervical cancer vaccines will lower the number of affected cases by 63 percent by the year 2025.

It will also lower the number of women detected with abnormal cells in smear tests, suggestive of early stages of cancer, by 51 percent.

Mass vaccination programs, with a full uptake, are predicted to prevent seven out of ten cases of cervical cancer in the long-term, stressing that it does not protect against every strain of the high risk HPV.

“Our predictions are really encouraging. If girls continue to take up the vaccine, thousands in the future could be prevented from developing cervical cancer and many more would avoid treatment to remove abnormal precancerous cells," said lead researcher Professor Jack Cuzick from the University of London.

Scientists, therefore, urge young girls to participate in vaccination campaigns that will help wipe out a considerable number of cervical cancer cases in the near future.

They added that cervical screening can also prevent the disease through detecting unusual changes in the cervix before cancer develops, saving the life of many women.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=116637§ionid=3510210.