Abstract
Cervical cancer is a major cause of cancer death among women worldwide, especially in developing countries, where screening is not carried out routinely. Human papillomavirus (HPV)-16 and -18 are found in 70% of cervical cancer cases; HPV-45 and -31 are responsible for an additional 10% of cases. Although current cervical cancer screening methods have contributed to a considerable decrease in mortality from squamous cell carcinoma, they fail to detect many cases of cervical adenocarcinoma. A HPV-16/18 L1 virus-like particle (VLP) candidate vaccine containing a unique adjuvant system, AS04, has demonstrated excellent immunogenicity, efficacy and an acceptable safety profile in women aged 15–25 years for up to 4.5 years after vaccination against incident and persistent HPV-16/18 infection and associated cytohistological abnormalities. Excellent immunogenicity and an acceptable safety profile have also been observed in women in a broad age range (i.e., 10–55 years). If the HPV-16/18 L1 VLP AS04 candidate vaccine is administered to adolescent girls before exposure to HPV, it has the potential to prevent a substantial number of cases of cervical cancer and cervical lesions. In addition, a sexually active woman may continue to be exposed to oncogenic HPV throughout her lifetime. Therefore, vaccination of older women also may decrease the burden of cervical cancer.
Acknowledgements
Editorial assistance was provided by Susan Wieting of GlaxoSmithKline Biologicals, Rixensart, Belgium, and Jennifer Darby, PharmD of Scientific Therapeutics Information, Inc., NJ, USA.