Cervical Cancer

A Cancer Vaccine

A Cancer Vaccine ~ It's Real!

“Breakthroughs” in cancer research often hit the front page and then turn out to be disappointing, while real progress hardly gets a mention.

A good example of the latter is that an effective vaccine against a particular kind of cancer will soon be in use by doctors.

And it will protect women from most cervical types of cancer.

The Pap test, used for many decades (primarily in industrialized countries) to diagnose cervical cancer in its earliest stages, has saved millions of lives.

But even in the U.S., where the Pap test is widely used, about 10,400 new cases were diagnosed in 2005, and 3,700 women died of the disease.

Worldwide, half a million women are diagnosed annually and 250,000 die, chiefly in countries where the Pap test is not used.

The vaccine rests upon the discovery that almost all cervical cancers occur when certain strains of HPV (human papilloma virus) are present in the cervix.

There are many strains of HPV, most of which cause warts on the skin, including the genital area.

Both warts and viruses are transient, in other words, they tend to go away.

Some strains of the virus are sexually transmitted, and infection in both men and women is common.

Most people never even know they are infected.

Cervical Cancer;

Two strains, however, are found in 70% of all cervical cancers, and are also associated with rarer forms of genital cancer in men.

Fortunately, those infected with the cancer causing strains usually do not develop cancer.

That is, infection is a necessary, but not sufficient, cause of cancer.

The vaccine is designed to protect against the two strains known to be associated with cancer, as well as two others that cause genital warts

Two versions of the new vaccine await FDA approval.

Cervical Cancer;

One received preliminary approval in May, and as we go to press, a final FDA decision is expected shortly.

The vaccine is safe and is believed to afford long term protection.

It will apparently require three shots over six months.

In clinical trials for example, one in Lancet Oncology in 2005 —it has had an astonishing track record.

The vaccine is most effective before infection occurs, so in order to have a safety margin, children would have to be vaccinated around the age of 10 or 12, before adolescents become sexually active.

It's expected that a government advisory panel will provide specific vaccination guidelines for children and adults.

Cervical Cancer;

The vaccine would not replace the Pap test, which will continue to be useful for women who have not been vaccinated and for the detection of cervical cancers not caused by the targeted HPV strains — and in case the vaccine does not last a lifetime.

But this vaccine has the potential to dramatically reduce the cancers caused by HPV.

Can you “catch” cancer?

The very idea of a cancer vaccine opens pathways hitherto undreamed of.

If a vaccine can prevent one cancer, why not all?

Are viruses and other microorganisms involved in all cancers?

If so, is cancer a communicable disease?

No.

You cannot contract cancer by associating with, touching, or caring for a person who has it.

You can, of course, become infected by a virus like HPV, but that's far from “catching” cancer.

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Up to 20% of all cancers are now known to be promoted by microorganisms, including some bacteria and viruses.

These microorganisms, like HPV, don't exactly cause cancer, but are part of the chain of events leading to it.

Scientists have identified viruses that may play a role in prostate and breast cancer.

This is still speculative, but a good lead.

A virus known as HTLV-1 is linked to a type of leukemia.

HHV-8, another virus, is linked to several rare skin and blood vessel cancers.

Epstein-Barr virus is linked to some kinds of lymphoma and a cancer of the back of the throat.

Hepatitis B and hepatitis C viruses are linked to chronic liver infection and liver cancer.

Helicobacter pylori is a bacterium that causes stomach ulcers, and some researchers suspect it is part of the chain of events leading to stomach cancer.

But none of these organisms alone are sufficient to do the damage.

Other factors have to come into play.

In lung cancer it's tobacco smoke or other environmental toxins.

Diet and obesity may play a role in a variety of cancers.

The passage of time is another factor, since cancer is generally a disease of older people.

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Probably most important of all is genetics.

Certain genes can prevent cancer; others can give rise to it.

If something — for example, a virus — somehow “turns off” the protective genes, cancer may result.

Or a virus can “turn on” a gene to promote growth and thus cancer.

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Encouraging news

The discovery that viruses are involved in some cancers is good news.

If scientists can interfere with the progression of the bio-chemical events leading to cancer — by eliminating a virus, for instance, as with the HPV vaccine — that means they may be able to prevent cancer.

Actually, this is not strictly the first anti-cancer vaccine.

The vaccine for hepatitis B has prevented that disease, but also the kinds of chronic liver infections that lead to cancer.

Feline leukemia, caused by a virus, also has its vaccine, as you probably know if you own a cat.

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Avoiding cancer viruses;

Since not all cancer-causing viruses are known, it is hard to give advice on avoiding them.

Public policy makes it possible to avoid some of them.

Blood donations, for example, are screened for the hepatitis viruses and HTLV-1.

You can be vaccinated against hepatitis B — and indeed vaccination is recommended for children and adults at high risk.

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Women should have Pap tests on a regular basis to determine if they have precancerous cervical cells; there is also a test to detect HPV in the cervix.

Though genital warts are caused by HPV strains not typically linked to cancer, you should seek treatment promptly for genital warts if you have them.

Remember that we are all infected with viruses and other agents that we don't know about — and most don't cause cancer.

Lifestyle: is it off the hook?

If many cancers turn out to have an infectious factor — for example, if a virus is found to be involved in lung cancer — does that mean you can forget about healthy living?

Not at all.

Let's say there is a virus for lung cancer, and you have it without knowing it.

It may become active only if you smoke.

So you “vaccinate” yourself by not smoking and by avoiding secondhand smoke.

Cancer is the perfect model of the multifactorial event, or as some call it, the two or three hit hypothesis.”

We are used to thinking of simple “causes,” such as the hammer driving the nail.

But most diseases are turning out to have a complex of “causes” — genetics, many elements in the environment, and the passage of time.

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