Researchers say the human papillomavirus vaccine, commonly referred to as HPV vaccine, has cut cervical cancer rates among women by 87 percent.
On Wednesday, British researchers published a new study in the journal the Lancet, documenting the results of how HPV vaccinations have affected the number of cases. CNN Health’s Jen Christensen reports that by the middle of 2019, there were 450 fewer cases of cervical cancer and 17,200 fewer cases of pre-cancers than what was expected in the population of vaccinated women.
The researchers examined data collected between January 2006 and June 2019. The groups of women that were analyzed included those who were vaccinated and those who were not. The researchers used data from a population-based cancer registry in the United Kingdom. The women who made up the groups were in different age ranges: 12 to 13, 14 to 16, and 16 to 18. They found that girls who were vaccinated earlier on were most protected.
“This study provides the first direct evidence of the impact of the UK HPV vaccination campaign on cervical cancer incidence, showing a large reduction in cervical cancer rates in vaccinated cohorts,” study co-author Dr. Kate Soldan from the UK Health Security Agency said, CNN Health reports.
Much of the data was centered around the Cervarix vaccine, which protects against two strains of cancer-causing HPV. However, there are now newer, more up-to-date vaccines for HPV that protect against several strains.
“This represents an important step forward in cervical cancer prevention. We hope that these new results encourage uptake as the success of the vaccination program relies not only on the efficacy of the vaccine but also the proportion of the population vaccinated,” Soldan continued.
