A vaccine targeting four strains of human papillomavirus (HPV) has reduced infection rates by 90% compared with a placebo in a randomized, double-blind trial, published in Lancet Oncology. Eliav Barr, Senior Director of Clinical Research at Merck, who produce the 'Gardasil' vaccine, said it was “...purposefully designed to target the HPV types most commonly associated with cervical cancer, as well as types that cause genital warts and many abnormal Pap smears, to reduce the burden from HPV infection as much as possible.” (http://news.bbc.co.uk, 7 April 2005.)

Following the success of the trial, in which 277 women were vaccinated and 275 women were given a placebo, Merck has started a major international trial involving more than 25,000 people. They hope this treatment could be on the market within 2 years. “If Phase III studies demonstrate the vaccine is as effective as [in the smaller trial], I'm sure that it will change the history of cervical cancer,” said lead author Luisa Villa, of the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, Sao Paulo, Brazil (Reuters, 7 April 2005).

“This vaccine could have a huge impact if you could vaccinate young girls in countries that don't have routine cervical cancer screening,” says Debbie Saslow, Director of Breast and Gynaecological Cancer Control for the American Cancer Society. “But these are the countries that are going to be least able to afford it.” Nations with comprehensive screening programmes will not replace Pap smears with the vaccine, she suggests, because ∼25–30% of cervical cancers are caused by HPV strains that the vaccine does not target (http://www.foxnews.com, 7 April 2005).