Evaluating The Efficacy Of The New HPV Vaccines: A Systematic Review

To gauge the potential impact of the new HPV vaccines on disease burden,
Lisa Rambout BScPhm and colleagues performed a systematic review of the
available evidence from randomized controlled trials of the efficacy of
the new vaccines. They screened 456 reports and included 9 in their
systematic review; 6 were reports of randomized controlled trials and 3
were follow-up reports of initial trials. The systematic review
indicates that the 2 available HPV vaccines appear to be highly
efficacious in preventing HPV infection and precancerous cervical
disease among women aged 15-25 years old who had not previously been
infected with vaccine-type HPV strains.



There are more than 100 known subtypes of HPV, but types 16 and 18 are
the most prevalent oncogenic strains of the virus, accounting for an
estimated 70% of cervical cancers worldwide. Both of the available HPV
vaccines target types 16 and 18, and one of then also targets HPV types
6 and 11, 2 non-oncogenic strains associated with the development of
external genital disease, including genital warts. Vaccination was also
shown to be highly efficacious in preventing other HPV-related infection
and disease outcomes, including persistent HPV infection, low-grade
lesions and genital warts. The majority of adverse events were minor.



"Prophylactic vaccination against human papillomavirus infection and disease in women: a systematic review of randomized controlled trials"

Lisa Rambout BScPhm, Laura Hopkins MD MSc, Brian Hutton MSc, Dean Fergusson PhD


Canadian Medical Association Journal

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