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The Impact of HPV Vaccination on Cervical Cancer Mortality Women who received an HPV vaccine in early adolescence have virtually zero risk of dying from cervical cancer before the age of 30, according to a groundbreaking study. However, falling vaccination rates could see a rise in avoidable deaths. Cervical Cancer Statistics and HPV Vaccine Effectiveness Cervical cancer is the fourth most common cancer in women, according to the World Health Organization, and high-risk human papillomaviruses (HPV) cause 99% of cases. About 3,300 women in England are diagnosed with the disease every year. The HPV vaccine prevents about 90% of cervical cancers. The Data Analysis: Mortality Rates and Vaccination Impact Researchers from Queen Mary University of London used official cancer mortality and vaccination data for women aged 20 to 34 to calculate the impact of vaccination on cervical cancer survival. The study, funded by Cancer Research UK and published in the Lancet, saw substantial falls in cervical cancer mortality in those who were offered vaccination after the HPV jab was introduced in 2008. The Impact Analysis: HPV Vaccination and Cervical Cancer Prevention The likelihood of girls who are inoculated when they are 12 or 13 dying from cervical cancer before the age of 30 is almost zero. For vaccinated women aged 30-34, the relative risk of death from the disease is 63% lower. For the first time in recorded history, no women aged 20 to 24 died from cervical cancer in England between 2020 and 2024. The Prediction: Future Outlook and Concerns Despite the success of the HPV vaccine, falling vaccination rates could lead to a rise in avoidable deaths. The WHO’s global strategy on cervical cancer states that by 2030, all countries should vaccinate 90% of girls with the HPV vaccine by the age of 15, screen 70% of women and treat 90% of those with cervical disease. However, vaccination rates have fallen significantly since the pandemic, and experts warn that without swift and concerted efforts to increase HPV vaccine uptake, there could be another 15-25 avoidable deaths each year in young women and eventually about 200 deaths from cervical cancer each year that could be prevented.

Breakthrough Cancer Drug Reveals Hidden TumorsA smart drug that stops cancer cells "hiding" from treatment can shrink tumours by at least 30% in six of the world's most common forms of the disease, according to early trial results. While immunotherapy treatments have improved survival rates for many patients, their effectiveness can stall or fail when tumour cells hide and then spread.How the Smart Drug WorksResearchers in Oxford have developed a drug designed to stop cancer cells concealing themselves from the immune system, allowing immunotherapy treatments to identify and destroy them. In a trial spanning the UK, France, Spain and Australia, 83 patients with cervical, bladder, liver, bowel, lung or head and neck cancers were given the experimental drug, GRWD5769, alongside the immunotherapy treatment cemiplimab.The smart drug was able to remove "invisibility cloaks" from tumour cells, exposing them to the parts of the immune system that attack infections and diseases. This allowed the cemiplimab immunotherapy to pinpoint and destroy the cancer.Trial Results Across Cancer TypesResearchers, led by the Christie NHS foundation trust in Manchester, England, found that tumours shrank in 26 patients. Of those, 15 experienced tumour reductions of at least 30%. All participants had previously failed to respond to treatment, and most had no options left when they joined the study.GRWD5769 was shown to shrink tumours in all six cancer types included in the trial. The drug halted progression of the disease for at least six months in 18% of cervical cancer patients, 32% of liver cancer patients, 36% of bladder cancer patients, 38% of those with neck and head cancer, and more than half of bowel (51%) and lung (55%) cancer patients.Significance for Cancer TreatmentImmunotherapy enlists T-cells – immune system cells that attack infections and diseases – to hunt and destroy cancer. Although it has revolutionised cancer care, it fails in about two-thirds of patients. This is because immunotherapy struggles when tumours hide from the immune system.Tumours can evade the immune system by manipulating an enzyme called ERAP1 (endoplasmic reticulum aminopeptidase 1). By altering this enzyme, cancer cells can hide from a patient's T-cells. GRWD5769 solves this problem by inhibiting ERAP1, which removes cancer's invisibility cloak and makes tumour cells visible to T-cells that could not previously find them.Future Outlook for Cancer TreatmentThe findings were presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology's annual meeting in Chicago, the world's largest cancer conference. Prof Fiona Thistlethwaite, the principal investigator, noted: "For a drug that is given as a tablet, this is very impressive. It's early days, and we need further studies, but this is a new drug with a new mechanism that clearly helps immunotherapy perform more effectively."The tablets, which were developed by Oxford-based Greywolf Therapeutics and were tolerated well by patients. The trial remains ongoing, with a larger study planned. Cancer Research UK's research information lead, Dr Samuel Godfrey, noted: "Immunotherapy has transformed treatment for some cancers but it doesn't yet work for everyone. This trial seems to show how this new drug could make immunotherapy more effective, including in some cases where immunotherapy had previously failed."