An HPV vaccine is already “highly effective” in reducing the risk of cervical lesions, just six years after it was introduced, the first Danish study into its benefits has found.
The quadrivalent HPV vaccine – 1 of 2 HPV vaccines that are available – was licensed in Denmark in 2006.
It was incorporated into general childhood vaccination programs for girls free of charge and was made available to girls and women and to boys and men not covered by the programme for a fee.
In the first nationwide population-based study of HPV-related cervical abnormalities in vaccinated women compared with unvaccinated women, Dr Susanne Krüger Kjaerfrom Unit of Virus, Lifestyle and Genes, at the Danish Cancer Society Research Centre in Copenhagen, has revealed the effectiveness of the quadrivalent vaccine.
Writing in the 19 February edition of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, she and her team describe how they identified all girls and women born in Denmark between 1989 and 1999 and obtained the corresponding HPV vaccination status in 2006-2012 for each one. They also gathered information on incident cases of cervical lesions among those in the cohort.
The researchers discovered that risk of abnormal cervical cells was significantly reduced among vaccinated women born between 1991 and 1994 compared with those who did not receive the vaccine.
“In conclusion, our results show that vaccination with the quadrivalent HPV vaccine is already effective in reducing the risk for cervical precursor lesions at population level among young women in Denmark,” write the authors.
Baldur-Felskov B, Dehlendorff C et al. Early impact of Human Papillomavirus Vaccination on cervical Neoplasia—Nationwide Follow-up of Young Danish Women. 19 February 2014; DOI:10.1093/jnci/djt460 [abstract]
Leave a Reply