HPV vaccine is spelling end of cervical cancer

CERVICAL cancer has been virtually eradicated in young women due to the success of the HPV vaccine, a major study has found.

The jab has stopped hundreds of cases of the disease and prevented thousands more women from developing pre-cancerous changes to cervical cells, the research shows.

The NHS vaccination programme was launched for girls aged 12 and 13 in 2008 and the Cancer Research UK-funded study shows for the first time how effective it has been.

It found that cervical cancer rates in those offered the vaccine between the ages of 12 and 13 – now in their 20s – were 87 per cent lower than in an unvaccinated population.

There were also reductions in cervical cancer rates of 62 per cent in women offered vaccination between the ages of 14 and 16, and 34 per cent in those aged 16 to 18.

Separate figures show cervical cancer among women now in their twenties, the first generation to get the jab, have now dropped from about 50 per year to just five.

The HPV vaccine prevents infection from human papillomavirus, a common group of viruses that are behind 90 per cent of cervical cancer cases. Around 3,200 cases of cervical cancer are diagnosed every year in Britain, leading to more than two deaths a day.

But charities say the latest research shows the illness will soon become ‘a thing of the past’ and a ‘rare disease’.

Experts estimated that the first four years of the vaccination programme – between 2008 and 2012 – had led to around 450 fewer cases of cervical cancer and 17,200 fewer cases of pre-cancerous cells developing. Professor Peter Sasieni, study author, from King’s

College London, said: ‘It’s been incredible to see the impact of HPV vaccination and now we can prove it prevented hundreds of women from developing cancer.

‘Assuming most people continue to get the HPV vaccine and go for screening, cervical cancer will become a rare disease.’

Dr Vanessa Saliba, consultant epidemiologist for the UK Health

Security Agency, the Government’s public health body, which also took part in the study, said: ‘These remarkable findings confirm that the HPV vaccine saves lives.’

Cancer Research UK chief executive Michelle Mitchell said: ‘It’s a historic moment to see the first study showing that the HPV vaccine has and will continue to protect thousands of women.’

A new HPV vaccine, Gardasil, which offers an even higher level of protection, is now being used in schools.

‘Remarkable findings’