The first human papilloma virus (HPV) vaccine (Gardasil; Merck) was approved by the US Food and Drug Administration in June 2006 for the immunization of 9–26 year-old women to prevent cervical cancer. In the lead up to this launch and since, there have been many news stories and commentaries published covering topics ranging from the hope that these vaccines might be able to prevent most cases of cervical cancer, to discussion of how to introduce these vaccines in the developing world where they are most needed, to heated debates — particularly in the United States — about giving young girls a vaccine to prevent a sexually transmitted disease.

These issues and future challenges are discussed by Richard Roden and T.–C. Wu in their review on page 753. They also describe the clinical need for a vaccine to prevent cervical cancer, the development of the HPV vaccines and possibilities for more effective second generation vaccines.

At a recent conference (International Papillomavirus Conference, Prague, Czech Republic, September 1–7, 2006) results of a computer modelling study conducted by GlaxoSmithKline — whose vaccine, Cervarix, is not far behind that developed by Merck — were presented. They showed that immunizing every 12-year-old girl with an HPV vaccine would cut the number of deaths from cervical cancer by about 75%. Even with 80% coverage, the computer modelling shows that deaths from cervical cancer should drop by 61%.

The development and approval of HPV vaccines is certainly something to celebrate. In our own small way we also have something to celebrate this month — the fifth anniversary of the launch of Nature Reviews Cancer. We would like to thank all authors and referees, who, together with our readers, have made the past 5 years a true success.