Vaccine demonstrates high efficacy against HPV types 16 and 18 in 18-25 year old women

New data presented this week at the EUROGIN conference support that young adult women, a population group not typically targeted for cervical cancer immunization, could benefit from the vaccine.

The primary focus of most current recommendations is to vaccinate young girls before the onset of sexual activity. However, guidance is limited when it comes to vaccinating young adult women against cervical cancer. In a new sub-analysis of the largest efficacy trial (PATRICIA HPV-008) of a licensed cervical cancer vaccine to date,GlaxoSmithKline’s Cervarix® has now demonstrated high efficacy (89.5 percent) against cervical pre-cancers (cervical intraepithelial neoplasia 2+ or CIN2+) associated with cancer-causing human papillomavirus (HPV) types 16 and 18 in 18-25 year old women. A further analysis of the same cohort which only included lesions likely to be caused by HPV 16 and 18 revealed that the vaccine was 96.2 percent effective against cervical pre-cancers (CIN 2+) caused by these two types.

Commenting on the significance of these findings, Dr Anne Szarewski, clinical consultant at the Wolfson Institute of Preventive Medicine and one of the investigators on the HPV-008 study said, “A woman can be infected with the virus at any point during her life and prior infection does not reliably protect her from subsequent infections. There has been ongoing debate over the value of vaccination for women who may previously have been infected with HPV. These data support vaccinating 18-25 year old women, showing such a strategy could help deliver public health benefit by offering them effective protection against cervical cancer.”

A separate analysis of the study population revealed that almost 99% of the women in the 18-25 year old age group could benefit from cervical cancer vaccination, as less than 1% of this cohort is co-infected with both cancer-causing HPV types 16 and 18.

Other data presented at the conference support the cost-effectiveness of vaccinating young adult women with Cervarix®. Two model-based health economics studies in the UKsetting have shown that extending vaccination to this group could lead to a substantial reduction in the incidence of cervical cancer and the cost burden associated with treating the disease.