Cervical cancer shot by end of year

Professor Ron Jones

A cervical cancer vaccine could be available to New Zealand women as early as the end of the year.

Australasian vaccine company CSL Limited announced yesterday that its vaccine had been submitted for evaluation to New Zealand's medicines regulator, Medsafe.

Auckland gynaecologist Professor Ron Jones, who was chairman of the National Cervical Screening Programme guidelines development group, said he was keen to see the vaccine made available to New Zealand women as soon as possible.

"A preventative vaccine in conjunction with regular pap smear tests will be a major leap forward in eradicating cervical cancer," he said.

In a trial of more than 20,000 women, including 200 New Zealanders, the vaccine prevented 100 per cent of high-grade cervical pre-cancerous lesions and non-invasive cervical cancer associated with human papillomavirus (HPV) types 16 and 18, associated with genital warts.

HPV types 16 and 18 cause 70 per cent of cervical cancer and account for a significant proportion of abnormal pap smear tests.

Professor Ian Frazer from the University of Queensland was named as 2006 Australian of the Year for his research that resulted in the development of the vaccine.

Up to 240 New Zealand women are diagnosed with cervical cancer annually and on average 80 women die from the disease each year.

Thousands of others are detected with high-grade cervical abnormalities that can require treatments such as surgery to remove part of the cervix, Professor Jones said.

"Being part of the solution to reduce the burden from this devastating disease is very exciting and the beneficial impact of the vaccine will be appreciated by millions of women worldwide."

- NZPA