Cervical cancer vaccine near

BRISBANE - An Australian scientist who thought of a cervical cancer vaccine in a hospital basement two decades ago is about to see his discovery revolutionise women's health.

Professor Ian Frazer said yesterday the vaccine was expected to be on the market next year after five years of clinical trials involving tens of thousands of women.

The vaccine provokes an immune response to the sexually transmitted human papilloma virus, which is linked to more than 70 per cent of cervical cancer cases. It's designed to be given to women before they become sexually active.

"Clinical trials ... show the vaccine works, it's safe and it seems to work for quite a long time," Frazer said.

The vaccine is seen as a major health advance for women, with 470,000 new diagnoses of cervical cancer and 230,000 deaths each year.

Scottish-bred Frazer began the research 20 years ago at Brisbane's Princess Alexandra Hospital after switching his focus from hepatitis to cervical cancer.

"When I came here first of all in 1985, we worked in the basement of the dialysis unit and I worked in a cupboard," he joked.

He is now the director of the University of Queensland's Centre for Immunology and Cancer Research at the Princess Alexandra.

The cervical cancer vaccine he helped develop is considered one of the biggest advances for women since the contraceptive pill.

"I think you're very lucky as a scientist that what you do ... leads to something that works in your lifetime," he said.

Two pharmaceutical companies, GlaxoSmith Kline and Merck, are preparing to launch cervical cancer vaccines based on Frazer's research.

He said that by the time the vaccines reached the market, about US$1 billion ($1.35 billion) would have been spent in their development.

Much of the early research was funded by organisations such as the Queensland Cancer Fund, Australia's National Health and Medical Research Council and charitable donations.

- AAP