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Can genital-tract human papillomavirus infection and cervical cancer be prevented with a vaccine?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 April 2004

Joakim Dillner
Affiliation:
Division of Laboratory Medicine, Department of Medical Microbiology, University Hospital at Malmö, Lund University, S-20502 Malmö, Sweden.
Darron R. Brown
Affiliation:
Department of Medicine, and Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Indiana University School of Medicine, 545 Barnhill Drive, Indianapolis, IN 46202, USA.

Abstract

Human papillomavirus (HPV) infection is the cause of squamous cell carcinoma of the uterine cervix. This causative relationship has provided the rationale and incentive for development of a prophylactic vaccine. Such a vaccine, if found to be effective, could reduce the need for cervical cancer screening and have a profound effect on the incidence of cervical and other anogenital cancers. This review begins by examining the basic biological and epidemiological principles relevant to the development of HPV preventative vaccines. It then summarises studies examining the use of vaccines to prevent HPV infection in animals and humans, and, finally, discusses some of the unanswered issues surrounding vaccine development against HPV infection and cervical cancer.

Type
Review Article
Copyright
© Cambridge University Press 2004

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