Cervical cancer is once more beginning to report a slight increase in incidence after a great deal of years following the introducing and increased use of Pap screenings when it had dropped exponentially. This is maybe because women don't see it at such a threat now that the number of its victims is not so high, but the fact is that the numbers are low exactly because women were aware of the dangers of developing it and were undergoing regular Pap screenings in order to detect any abnormalities at a stage where they are 100% curable.

More and more cases of cervical cancer are diagnosed later in their development. In order to deal with this many clinical trials are trying out new treatments and new drugs. Clinical trials are done in chemotherapy, radiotherapy, surgery, biological therapies but also HPV vaccines. This last one is an increasingly used and spread method of preventing the cancer by making the organism immune to HPV infections. HPV is a sexually transmitted virus that has been linked to more than 90% of cervical cancers and though it is probably the most important risk factor it can't 100% be deemed as a cause for developing it. There are actually many different HPV strains and only two of them, 16 and 18 have been proven to represent a risk for developing cervical cancer.



Several types of vaccines have already been developed and have been tested or are being tested in clinical trials. Many of them have been reported to prevent precancerous abnormalities in the cervix. UK has been the setting of the majority of cervical cancer clinical trials and HPV vaccination is already given here to all girls with ages between 12 and 13 , as part of a governmental initiative for the well being of the population. Though somewhat controversial the vaccine has gained credibility and the trust of the people and there is now even a "catch up" programme implemented since autumn of 2008 to administer the vaccine to girls who are now alder that 13 but no older than 18.

Closely following the British initiative, a Scottish Executive immunization programme has also begun since September 2008. This vaccine is expected to turn cervical cancer into history and significantly reduce the need for colposcopy.



Gardasil is an example of a cervical cancer vaccine that was approved and licensed for use in the UK in 2007. This vaccine is very effective against HPV strains 6 and 11, but also 16 and 18. Preventing complications from strains 6 and 11 is also important because these can lead to warts and diseases of the genital area. The most commonly used vaccine is however Cervarix. This has been selected for most HPV vaccination programmes and previous studies and trials have proven that Cervarix is successful in preventing precancerous changes in close to 90% of the patients.