Cervical cancer now curable

Cervical cancer now curable

Cervical cancer can now be reportedly cured, if Merck's trial of a vaccine Gardasil is anything to go by. The US based drugmaker, Merck, claimed that in its experiments with more than 6000 women, vaccine was 100% successful in preventing the onset of this cancer. 12,000 women in the age group of 16-26 were involved in the study.

While 6,000 of them were treated with Gardasil, the rest were given a placebo. While 21 women who received placebos developed precancerous lesions, no such cases were reported in women who were administered the vaccine.

Developed by Merck & Co in collaboration with Sanofi Pasteur, this drug will be a boon to women. An estimated 300,000 women across the world lose their lives yearly due to cervical cancer. Most of these women live in countries where pap smear procedure is not performed.

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But, the hitch is that it should be given to all girls around as soon as they reach pubescence to prevent human papilloma Virus (HPV) which causes cervical cancer. HPV, meanwhile, is sexually transmitted. So usage of this drug in certain countries could open up moral debates.

Merck is now one up on UK drug major GlaxoSmithKline which is also developing a drug named Cervarix to battle cervical cancer. Merck is expecting that it will receive market approval by next year. If it does, it will be a major upturn for the American drug manufacturer which has been facing problems lately. Its patent for Zocor, the drug for cholesterol, is about to expire. It is also facing legal hassles concerning the pain killer Vioxx which has been held responsible for putting its users under risk of heart related ailments. The success of the vaccine trial helped Merck's shares to rise up by 56 cents.

It has also been proved effective against advanced-stage abnormalities of the cervix known as lesions, according to Professor Margaret Stanley, Cambridge University. Even during the test, hardly any side effects were reported. The only complaint was that some women experienced slight discomfort after being injected.

Gardasil can also be used for to vaccinate them against potential genital warts. Meanwhile, the company is also looking at developing other HPV vaccines which could prevent mouth, throat and oesophageal cancers.