Cervical cancer is a cancer arising from the cervix. It is due to the abnormal growth of cells that have the ability to invade or spread to other parts of the body. Early on, typically no symptoms are seen. Later symptoms may include abnormal vaginal bleeding, pelvic pain or pain during sexual intercourse. While bleeding after sex may not be serious, it may also indicate the presence of cervical cancer.
Human papillomavirus infection is caused by a DNA virus from the Papillomaviridae family. Many HPV infections cause no symptoms and 90% resolve spontaneously within two years. In some cases, an HPV infection persists and results in either warts or precancerous lesions. These lesions, depending on the site affected, increase the risk of cancer of the cervix, vulva, vagina, penis, anus, mouth, tonsils, or throat. Nearly all cervical cancer is due to HPV and two strains – HPV16 and HPV18 – account for 70% of cases. HPV16 is responsible for almost 90% of HPV-positive oropharyngeal cancers. Between 60% and 90% of the other cancers listed above are also linked to HPV. HPV6 and HPV11 are common causes of genital warts and laryngeal papillomatosis.
Papillomaviridae is a family of non-enveloped DNA viruses whose members are known as papillomaviruses. Several hundred species of papillomaviruses, traditionally referred to as "types", have been identified infecting all carefully inspected mammals, but also other vertebrates such as birds, snakes, turtles and fish. Infection by most papillomavirus types, depending on the type, is either asymptomatic or causes small benign tumors, known as papillomas or warts. Papillomas caused by some types, however, such as human papillomaviruses 16 and 18, carry a risk of becoming cancerous.
Cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN), also known as cervical dysplasia, is the abnormal growth of cells on the surface of the cervix that could potentially lead to cervical cancer. More specifically, CIN refers to the potentially precancerous transformation of cells of the cervix.
Human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccines are vaccines that prevent infection by certain types of human papillomavirus (HPV). Available HPV vaccines protect against either two, four, or nine types of HPV. All HPV vaccines protect against at least HPV types 16 and 18, which cause the greatest risk of cervical cancer. It is estimated that HPV vaccines may prevent 70% of cervical cancer, 80% of anal cancer, 60% of vaginal cancer, 40% of vulvar cancer, and show more than 90% efficacy in preventing HPV-positive oropharyngeal cancers. They additionally prevent some genital warts, with the quadrivalent and nonavalent vaccines that protect against HPV types HPV-6 and HPV-11 providing greater protection.
Gardasil is an HPV vaccine for use in the prevention of certain strains of human papillomavirus (HPV). It was developed by Merck & Co. High-risk human papilloma virus (hr-HPV) genital infection is the most common sexually transmitted infection among women. The HPV strains that Gardasil protects against are sexually transmitted, specifically HPV types 6, 11, 16 and 18. HPV types 16 and 18 cause an estimated 70% of cervical cancers, and are responsible for most HPV-induced anal, vulvar, vaginal, and penile cancer cases. HPV types 6 and 11 cause an estimated 90% of genital warts cases. HPV type 16 is responsible for almost 90% of HPV-positive oropharyngeal cancers, and the prevalence is higher in males than females. Though Gardasil does not treat existing infection, vaccination is still recommended for HPV-positive individuals, as it may protect against one or more different strains of the disease.
Bovine papillomaviruses (BPV) are a paraphyletic group of DNA viruses of the subfamily Firstpapillomavirinae of Papillomaviridae that are common in cattle. All BPVs have a circular double-stranded DNA genome. Infection causes warts of the skin and alimentary tract, and more rarely cancers of the alimentary tract and urinary bladder. They are also thought to cause the skin tumour equine sarcoid in horses and donkeys.
Cervarix is a vaccine against certain types of cancer-causing human papillomavirus (HPV).
Margaret Anne Stanley, OBE FMedSci is a British virologist and epithelial biologist. She attended the Universities of London, Bristol, and Adelaide. As of 2018, she is an Emeritus Professor of Epithelial Biology in the Department of Pathology at University of Cambridge and a Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences. She is also an Honorary Fellow of the UK Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists and an honorary fellow of Christ's College, Cambridge. Stanley is a research scientist in the field of virology with particular focus on the human papillomavirus (HPV). Her research work has led to new scientific findings on HPV. Additionally, she uses her expertise on HPV to serve on multiple different advisory committees and journal editorial boards.
Established in 1993 by Ludwig Cancer Research and McGill University, the Ludwig / McGill Cohort is one of the world’s largest longitudinal studies of the natural history of human papillomavirus (HPV) infection and cervical cancer risk.
HspE7 is an investigational therapeutic vaccine candidate being developed by Nventa Biopharmaceuticals for the treatment of precancerous and cancerous lesions caused by the human papillomavirus (HPV). HspE7 uses recombinant DNA technology to covalently fuse a heat shock protein (Hsp) to a target antigen, thereby stimulating cellular immune system responses to specific diseases. HspE7 is a patented construct consisting of the HPV Type 16 E7 protein and heat shock protein 65 (Hsp65) and is currently the only candidate using Hsp technology to target the over 20 million Americans already infected with HPV.
Professor Henry Kitchener, MD FRCOG FRCS(Glas) FMedSci, is a leading British expert in gynaecological oncology, based at the University of Manchester. He is a fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences.
C. Richard Schlegel is an American scientist and professor. He was the Chair of the Department of Pathology at Georgetown University from 2000-2019 and is now the director of the Center for Cell Reprogramming at Georgetown. He is best known as the co-inventor of the HPV vaccine and Conditionally Reprogrammed Cells (CRC) technology.
Diane Medved Harper is a professor in the Department of Family Medicine at the University of Michigan. Her area of expertise is human papillomavirus (HPV) and the diseases associated with it, as well as colposcopy, and she was the principal investigator of the clinical trials of Gardasil and Cervarix, vaccines against HPV.
William "Bill" Fleming Hoggan Jarrett, RCVS, FRCPath, FRCPG, FRS (1928–2011) was a British pathologist.
Lutz Gissmann is a German virologist and was head of the Division “Genome Modifications and Carcinogenesis” at the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) in Heidelberg until his retirement in 2015. Lutz Gissmann is known for his seminal research in the field of human papillomaviruses (HPV) and their causal association with human cancer, especially cervical cancer. In his early work, he demonstrated genetic heterogeneity among HPV isolates leading the way to the now well-established concept of distinct HPV types of which some are associated with specific benign or malignant disease. In the early 1980s in the laboratory of later Nobel Prize laureate Harald zur Hausen he was the first to isolate and characterize HPV16 and HPV18, the two most oncogenic HPV types causing the vast majority of HPV-induced anogenital and head-and-neck cancers. This groundbreaking work of Lutz Gissmann provided experimental evidence for the causal association of specific HPV types with human cancer, and laid the foundation for the development of prophylactic HPV vaccines for the prevention of cervical cancer and other HPV-induced cancers. His current research interest is on development of second generation prophylactic and therapeutic HPV vaccines.
Nubia Muñoz is a Colombian medical scientist and epidemiologist, whose research has been instrumental in establishing that human papillomavirus (HPV) infection is the primary cause of cervical cancer which has led to the development of a vaccine that is capable of preventing 70% of all cervical cancers.
The HPV Prevention and Control Board, founded in 2015, is an independent group of international experts that bring together key professionals, groups and government officials to deal with issues related to screening and prevention programmes for human papillomavirus (HPV) infection, the persistence of which may lead to cervical cancer, the second most common cancer in women living in low-resource settings. The Board focusses on preventing cervical cancer in these countries by promoting the sharing of information on cervical screening and HPV vaccination, which by 2014 had reached only around 3% of eligible girls in low income countries.
Michelle Adair Ozbun is an American molecular virologist who is the Maralyn S. Budke Endowed Professor in Viral Oncology at the University of New Mexico School of Medicine. Her research considers cancer biology and how human papillomavirus infections cause pathology including their contributions to cancers.
Julia C. Gage is an American cancer epidemiologist who researches cervical screening and the human papillomavirus infection. She is a staff scientist in the clinical genetics branch at the National Cancer Institute.
