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Study offers vaccine hope

A huge study by an international team of scientists has identified the eight human papillomavirus (HPV) types responsible for more than 90 per cent of cervical cancer cases worldwide. The research should enable the next-generation of vaccines to be targeted effectively.

Cervical cancer is the second most common cancer in women worldwide and is expected to kill 328,000 women this year.

Pharmaceutical giants Glaxo Smith Kline and Merck & Co. already make vaccines against a number of HPV strains and in wealthy countries immunisation programmes exist targeting girls before they become sexually active. However the vaccines are generally too expensive and inaccessible for most people living in poorer nations.  It is hoped the latest findings will aid the development of second-generation vaccines against multiple HPV types.

The research, which was reported in the Lancet, used 60 years of data from 10,575 cases of invasive cervical cancer across 38 countries.