HPV VACCINE REDUCING CERVICAL CANCER

WHY IN THE NEWS?

Recently, new research has found that the Human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine (Cervarix) reduces the risk of Cervical Cancer significantly in women.

• The results are important because the vaccine was introduced in the 2000s and studies confirming that it is effective against cancer have come up only recently.

Findings:

• The Human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine reduced cervical cancer cases by 87% among women in the U.K. who received the vaccine when they were 12 or 13 years old.
• It reduced the risk by 34% in women who were aged 16-18 years when they were offered the jab.
• Over a period of 11 years (since 2006), the vaccine prevented around 450 cervical cancers and around 17,200 cases of precancerous conditions.

Cervical Cancer:

• It is a type of cancer that occurs in the cells of the cervix – the lower part of the uterus that connects to the vagina.
• Various strains of the Human papillomavirus (HPV) play a role in causing most cervical cancer.

• When exposed to HPV, the body’s immune system typically prevents the virus from doing harm. In a small percentage of people, however, the virus survives for years, contributing to the process that causes some cervical cells to become cancer cells.
• The HPV vaccine (Cervarix) protects against two of the cancer-causing strains, which are HPV 16 and 18.

Human papillomavirus:

• Human papillomavirus (HPV) is the most common viral infection of the reproductive tract.
• There are more than 100 types of HPV.
  • More than 40 types of HPV are spread through direct sexual contact.
  • Out of these 40, two cause genital warts, while about a dozen of HPV cause different types of cancer including cervical, anal, oropharyngeal, penile, vulvar and vaginal.

Types of HPV Vaccines:

• Quadrivalent vaccine (Gardasil): It protects against four types of HPV (HPV 16, 18, 6 and 11). The latter two strains cause genital warts.
• Bivalent vaccine (Cervarix): It protects against HPV 16 and 18 only.
• Non valent vaccine (Gardasil 9): It protects against nine strains of HPV.
  • These vaccines prevent cervical cancer in women and girls who have not yet been exposed to the virus.

Indian Scenario:

• India is home to 16-17% of the world’s population, globally 27% of total cervical cancer cases are from here.
• Further, in India about 77% cases of cervical cancer are caused by HPV 16 and 18.
• In India, bivalent and quadrivalent HPV vaccines were licensed in 2008 and a non valent vaccine was licensed in 2018.
• Officially, the HPV vaccine has not been recommended for boys and males in India.