title: A Virus-based Vaccine May Prevent Cervical Cancer.
abstract: High-risk human papillomaviruses (HPVs) are now recognized as the etiologic agents of invasive cervical cancer, a major cancer in women. A single HPV type (type 16) is responsible for about 50% of the cancers. The major capsid protein of papillomaviruses, L1, when expressed by recombinant DNA technology, has the intrinsic ability to assemble into virus-like particles (VLPs). In a recent study, a vaccine based on HPV 16 VLPs was tested in a placebo-controlled proof-of-principle trial in young women in the United States. The vaccine was found to prevent 100% of incident persistent HPV 16 infections and HPV 16-associated cervical intraepithelial neoplasia. These results offer promise that cervical cancer will be preventable by an HPV-based vaccine. Studies planned or in progress are examining the efficacy of the vaccine in men, in HIV-infected individuals, and in other parts of the world. Attempts are being made to prepare vaccines that can be administered more easily to large populations.
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, 615 North Wolfe Street, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA. kvshah@jhsph.edu.
authors.forename: Patti E
authors.initials: PE
authors.lastname: Gravitt
authors.forename: Keerti V
authors.initials: KV
authors.lastname: Shah
references.citation: J Virol. 1996 Feb;70(2):960-5
references.pmid: 8551636
references.citation: J Natl Cancer Inst. 2003 Aug 6;95(15):1128-37
references.pmid: 12902442
references.citation: Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1998 Feb 17;95(4):1800-5
references.pmid: 9465097
references.citation: Virology. 1996 May 1;219(1):37-44
references.pmid: 8623552
references.citation: Lancet Infect Dis. 2002 Jul;2(7):395-403
references.pmid: 12127351
references.citation: J Infect Dis. 1999 Nov;180(5):1415-23
references.pmid: 10515798
references.citation: Infect Immun. 1997 Aug;65(8):3328-36
references.pmid: 9234794
references.citation: J Natl Cancer Inst Monogr. 2003;(31):111-6
references.pmid: 12807954
references.citation: J Virol. 2003 Sep;77(17 ):9211-20
references.pmid: 12915537
references.citation: Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1992 Dec 15;89(24):12180-4
references.pmid: 1334560
references.citation: J Virol. 1995 Jun;69(6):3959-63
references.pmid: 7745754
references.citation: J Natl Cancer Inst. 2001 Feb 21;93(4):284-92
references.pmid: 11181775
references.citation: Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev. 1997 Jun;6(6):387-400
references.pmid: 9184771
references.citation: Lancet. 2004 Nov 13-19;364(9447):1757-65
references.pmid: 15541448
references.citation: Virology. 2000 May 10;270(2):254-7
references.pmid: 10792983
references.citation: Virology. 1997 Jul 21;234(1):93-111
references.pmid: 9234950
references.citation: J Pathol. 1999 Sep;189(1):12-9
references.pmid: 10451482
references.citation: J Natl Cancer Inst. 2004 Apr 21;96(8):604-15
references.pmid: 15100338
references.citation: N Engl J Med. 2003 Feb 6;348(6):518-27
references.pmid: 12571259
references.citation: J Natl Cancer Inst. 1995 Jun 7;87(11):796-802
references.pmid: 7791229
references.citation: N Engl J Med. 2002 Nov 21;347(21):1645-51
references.pmid: 12444178
references.citation: J Gen Virol. 1993 Apr;74 ( Pt 4):763-8
references.pmid: 8385700
references.citation: Int J Cancer. 2003 Oct 10;106(6):896-904
references.pmid: 12918067
references.citation: N Engl J Med. 1998 Feb 12;338(7):423-8
references.pmid: 9459645
references.citation: Immunol Cell Biol. 2002 Feb;80(1):21-9
references.pmid: 11869359
references.citation: J Infect Dis. 2002 Nov 15;186(10):1396-402
references.pmid: 12404154
references.citation: J Infect Dis. 2003 Jul 15;188(2):327-38
references.pmid: 12854090
references.citation: Vaccine. 1999 Apr 23;17(17):2129-35
references.pmid: 10367945
references.citation: Vaccine. 2000 Feb 18;18 Suppl 1:S35-8
references.pmid: 10683542
references.citation: JAMA. 2003 Aug 13;290(6):781-9
references.pmid: 12915431
references.citation: Vaccine. 2003 Oct 1;21(27-30):4256-60
references.pmid: 14505907
references.citation: Br J Cancer. 2003 Jan 13;88(1):63-73
references.pmid: 12556961
references.citation: J Virol. 2003 Aug;77(16):8702-11
references.pmid: 12885889
references.citation: Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1995 Dec 5;92(25):11553-7
references.pmid: 8524802
references.citation: Lancet Infect Dis. 2003 Aug;3(8):469-75
references.pmid: 12901889
references.citation: J Virol. 1993 Jan;67(1):315-22
references.pmid: 8380079
references.citation: J Natl Cancer Inst. 2000 May 3;92(9):709-20
references.pmid: 10793107