Major cancer breakthrough – jab to treat form of disease that hits women under 50
Thousands of women with the earliest stages of cervical cancer could slash their risk of developing the disease by taking a HPV jab, promising research suggested today.
Cervical cancer cases in the UK have plummeted since 12 and 13 year-olds — both girls and boys — have been offered the jab as protection against the disease.
But Dutch scientists have discovered the vaccine may have a second key role in thwarting it.
They believe that administering a dose to women with high risk pre-cancerous cells could stop it developing into the invasive, deadly disease.
The trial found that in more than half of those who were offered the jab, the cells were destroyed. And after almost two years, none saw these cells recur.
Currently, women with these risky cells are offered an uncomfortable operation called a loop excision which ‘scrapes’ them out of the cervix.
However, the surgery involves risks including bleeding, infection and in some cases could cause complications with pregnancies including premature birth.
Experts today said the vaccine — ‘one of the most effective therapeutic vaccines’ to date — could pave the way for a new protocol for women with meaning they would no longer have to undergo the procedure.
Cervical cancer symptoms to look out for include unusual vaginal bleeding, pain during sex and lower back or pelvic pain
Dr Refika Yigit, an oncological gynecologist at University Medical Centre Groningen in the north of the country, who lead the trial said: ‘To the best of our knowledge, this response rate makes Vvax001 one of the most effective therapeutic vaccines for HPV16-associated CIN3 lesions reported to date’
Dr Refika Yigit, an oncological gynecologist at University Medical Centre Groningen in the north of the country who lead the trial, said that the jab — which researchers called Vvax001 — was ‘to the best of her knowledge’, one of ‘the most effective therapeutic vaccines’ for cervical pre-cancers.
She added that, if the results were confirmed in a larger trial, it could mean ‘at least half of the patients’ with high risk pre-cancerous cells ‘might be able to omit surgery and avoid all its possible side effects and complications’.
Around eight in 10 people will get HPV at some point in their life and their body will clear it without any problems, according to the NHS.
However, 13 out of the 150 varieties of the virus stay in the body for a long time and are known to cause 99.7 per cent per cent of cervical cancers.
There are three types of cervical pre-cancer – CIN1 (mild) CIN2 (moderate) and CIN3 (severe). These are all abnormal cells that line the cervix.
If left untreated, roughly a third of CIN3 cases develop into cervical cancer within 10 years. The figure stands at roughly half after 30 years.
That majority of CIN3 cases are caused by a specific strain of HPV known as HPV16.
In the phase two trial, 18 patients with CIN3 received three doses of vaccine three weeks apart.
NHS cervical screening data, which goes back to 2011, shows uptake was at its highest that year (75.7 per cent) and has fallen over time
Just 67.2 per cent of girls were fully vaccinated in 2021/22, down from a high of 86.7 per cent in 2013/14. Some 62.4 per cent of boys, who have been offered the jab on the NHS since 2019, were jabbed in the most recent school year, NHS data shows
All undertook routine colposcopies — a test to take a closer look at your cervix.
After a follow-up of 19 weeks, nine saw their CIN3 cells shrink or vanish. In three cases, they were completely destroyed.
Writing in the journal Clinical Cancer Research, the scientists said that of these nine patients, CIN3 tissue size ‘was significantly reduced in all but one of the patients’.
The other nine volunteers all underwent surgery — the current standard treatment.
But by the time four of the nine patients had surgery, ‘no residual disease’ was found, suggesting the vaccine may too have worked for them too, the scientists said.
Over a follow-up of roughly 20 months, ‘none of the patients had recurrences’, they added.
The scientists, however, acknowledged the trial had some limitations including a small sample size and a follow-up time of less than two years.
In the UK, the HPV jab was offered to all girls in school year 8 since September 2008. But eligibility was only expanded to boys in year 8 from September 2019.
In 2019, YouTube star Zoe Sugg posted a video of her live smear test to her channel in an attempt to encourage other women to attend their cervical screenings without fear. The now 34-year-old decided to share her screening online after an ‘eye opening’ meeting with a cervical cancer charity
Currently women aged 25 to 49 in the UK are invited for a cervical screening check at their GP surgery every three years. For those aged between 50 and 64, it is offered every five years.
Screening is arguably all the more important for women aged 34 and above, who did not receive a vaccine that protects against the vast majority of cervical cancers as part of the school programme introduced in 2008.
Depending on the result of the smear test, some women may be recalled earlier than the three-year routine intervals.
But screening uptake overall remains low. Only around 70 per cent of eligible women, roughly 4.6million, turn up for their scheduled test.
Embarrassment is a factor, according to research by cervical cancer charities.
For half of the 1.3 million no-shows every year, getting time off work and finding a convenient time to fit in an appointment are the other reasons they miss it.
In 2023, the NHS pledged to drastically slash the number of women struck by cervical cancer by 2040, vowing to boost uptake of both the HPV vaccine and cervical screening.
However, elimination would technically be achieved when fewer than four women per 100,000 are diagnosed every year.
For comparison, the rate currently stands at 9.5 women, equating to around 2,600 annually.
This means around 1,100 women a year — or three a day — could still be dealt the heartbreaking diagnosis if the health service’s elimination goal is met.
Experts have credited the HPV vaccine for helping to virtually eradicate the disease among women.
However, the jab, like all vaccines, does not offer 100 per cent protection, so women who have it are still recommended to have their regular smear tests.
