HPV vaccine reduced cervical cancer rates by 87% in women, study finds

The first-generation HPV vaccination reduced cervical cancer incidence in women by 87 per cent. According to a research published in The Lancet on Wednesday, there were 450 fewer incidences of cervical cancer and 17,200 fewer cases of pre-cancers in the vaccinated population by mid-2019.

Researchers from Kings College London and the British government examined data from the UK population-based cancer registry for seven groups of women between January 2006 and June 2019, comparing those who were vaccinated to those who were not.

They were looking at information about the Cervarix vaccine, which protects against two types of cancer-causing human papillomavirus (HPV). Vaccines sold under the Gardasil brand protect against even more strains of cancer-causing viruses.

Each of the three vaccination groups was vaccinated at a different age. One group was vaccinated when they were 12-13 years old, another around 14-16 years old and one group under 16-18 years old. The team found that those who were vaccinated at a young age were the best protected. Those vaccinated between the ages of 14 and 16 had a 62 per cent lower rate, while those vaccinated between the ages of 16 and 18 had a 24 per cent lower risk.

‘This study provides the first direct evidence of the impact of the UK HPV vaccination campaign on cervical cancer incidence, showing a large reduction in cervical cancer rates in vaccinated cohorts,’ study co-author Dr Kate Soldan from the UK Health Security Agency said.

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Dr Kate further said: ‘This represents an important step forwards in cervical cancer prevention. We hope that these new results encourage uptake as the success of the vaccination program relies not only on the efficacy of the vaccine but also the proportion of the population vaccinated.’

The impact of HPV immunization on overall cervical cancer rates are yet to be fully determined because cervical cancer is rare in young women. The UK also stopped using the HPV vaccine in this study in 2012. The UK now uses the Gardasil vaccine instead of the Cervarix vaccine.

The World Health Organization announced the Worldwide Strategy to accelerate the Elimination of Cervical Cancer last year, the first-ever global commitment to cancer elimination, with a goal of vaccinating 90 per cent of girls against HPV by the age of 15.

The US Department of Health and Human Services initiated a drive to boost HPV vaccination rates in January. The campaign targeted areas like South Carolina, Texas and Mississippi, which have among the lowest HPV vaccination rates in the country.