Hope in a Cancer Vaccine for Cervical Cancer

Cervical cancer is cancer that starts in the cervix, the lower part of the uterus (womb) that opens at the top of the vagina.  Worldwide, cervical cancer is the third most common type of cancer in women. It is much less common in the United States because of the routine use of pap smears

Cervical cancers start in the cells on the surface of the cervix. There are two types of cells on the cervix's surface: squamous and columnar. Most cervical cancers are from squamous cells.

ERIE TIMES-NEWS 

A vaccine against cervical cancer, being developed by Inovio Pharmaceuticals Inc. of Blue Bell, produced positive results in a small sample of 18 women.


The vaccine prompted their bodies to produce T cells -- a type of white blood cells -- that, in a separate lab test, recognized cells with tumor proteins, and killed them.


The researchers, including a team from the University of Pennsylvania, say the paper in the journal Science is the first to show that a DNA vaccine alone produced a high level of immunity in people. At the same time, the researchers acknowledged that a working vaccine faces more trials and remains years away from an actual product.

                                  What is Cervical Cancer Video 2012

 

http://www.goerie.com/article/20121015/LIFESTYLES07/310159987/Cervical-cancer-vaccine-shows-

promise

Cervical Cancer Prevention and Human Papillomavirus Vaccines By Franco, Eduardo L. (EDT) (Google Affiliate Ad)

New Cervical Cancer Screening to Hit World Wide Market

This new cervical cancer screening still involves a pap smear,but it reduces the number of false positives in the result of testing. There is also other changes that make the screening more cost effective.

Biodis is the name of this biotechnology distributor that will launch their new product to many countries of the world. Citofem is the name of the actual test.

"There are only two major pap smear products on the market today, now with Citofem(R), there is a third. This Pap test kit however, offers the highest sensitivity at the lowest price, making this a powerful weapon in the battle against cervical cancer worldwide," said Kent Erickson, Vice President of Sales for North America.

Why is this screening pap smear product better than the other two on the market? Citofem give the same superior results as the other two previous tests but it allows for a manual procedure that is very easy to replaces the purchase of expensive lab equipment.The process is extremely efficient with a single cytotechnologist processing on average over 750 slides per day.

Citofem results in a significant reduction in false negatives, increasing the diagnosis of the disease in its early stages," said Dr. Ladly Abraham, Chief Medical Officer of Biodis. "Citofem is also responsible for a reduction in inconclusive results arising from atypical squamous cells (ASC). It also results in the increased level of detection of low grade squamous intraepithelial lesions (LSIL) and high-grade squamous intraepithelial lesions (HSIL). We're very excited about Citofem because it's the most complete system for the early detection of cervical cancer, in that it obtains a much higher population of endocervical cells in the sample."

Top Honors For the Outstanding Innovation of the development of  Citofem Pap Smear Screening.

For more info:
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/revolutionary-new-cervical-cancer-screening-test-to-hit-worldwide-market-2012-05-02

New Study Shows That HPV Test Is Better Than Pap Test for Cervical Cancer

HPV stands for Human Papillomavairus which is s the most common sexually transmitted virus in the United States. At least 50% of sexually active people will have genital HPV at some time in their lives.

A test that looks for the virus that causes most cases of cervical cancer may be the best way to screen women over age 30 for the disease, a new study shows.
The study followed 45,000 women ages 29 to 56 in the Netherlands who were split into two groups. The first group got a traditional Pap test to look for cervical cancer. The second group got a Pap test along with a newer test for human papillomavirus (HPV). Studies have shown that HPV causes more than 90% of all cervical cancers.
Five years after they were first screened, all women were rescreened using both Pap and HPV tests.
In the first round of testing, HPV tests detected significantly more precancerous changes to cervical cells than Pap testing alone.
Because doctors caught and treated those changes sooner, women who initially got HPV tests were less likely to have full-blown cervical cancer when they were tested again five years later compared to women who got Pap tests alone.
The study found that women who got an initial HPV test had about a 27% reduced risk of having advanced precancerous lesions five years later compared to women who had a Pap test alone.

HPV virus

They were also less likely to have cervical cancer. There were 14 cases of cancer found in the group that only got a Pap test at the start of the study compared to four cases in the women who also got an HPV test.

Mayo Clinic image of a woman with HPV

 For more info:
http://www.webmd.com/cancer/cervical-cancer/news/20111215/hpv-test-beats-pap-test-cervical-cancer-screening