Cancer vaccine "success" - UK expert
Tuesday October 20th, 2009
Older women, but not men, could benefit from receiving the cervical cancer vaccine, according to a British expert today.
The chief executive of the UK Medical Research Council will today suggest answers to "unresolved" questions following the introduction of the vaccination programme for girls of school age.
He will reject suggestions that boys should be vaccinated too. The discoverer
of the link between cervical cancer and the virus HPV last week called
for this to happen. Professor Harald zur Hausen, a Nobel prize winner,
argued that men are directly at risk of developing different cancers from
the virus.
But MRC boss, Professor Sir Leszek Borysiewicz will today argue that vaccination of girls is set to achieve a rate of 80 per cent.
Giving the annual Harveian Oration to the Royal College of Physicians of London, UK, Sir Leszek will call for a "catch up" programme to enable older women to be vaccinated.
Sir Leszek says the existing screening programme for cervical cancer cannot yet be replaced - it has been suggested that women could be tested for HPV. But, according to the MRC chief executive, many cases of infection might be "benign" - but it would be hard for women to accept this.
He will say: "It is critical to the success of any campaign to ensure widespread understanding and public support, and recognise the vagaries of human nature in relation to healthcare benefits."
Tags: Cancer | Flu & Viruses | Men’s Health | UK News | Women’s Health & Gynaecology
Printer friendly page