• 9/27/2004
  • Hanover, NH
  • By Kevin Garland
  • The Dartmouth College, online

Diane Harper’s HPV study is slated to enroll hundreds of women during the next few months.Women in the Hanover area now have the opportunity to receive a vaccination for human papillomavirus, a treatment that past studies have shown can help prevent 76 percent of cervical cancer cases. The vaccination will be available only if they sign up for a study being conducted by the Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center, as it will not be available to the public for almost a decade.

All strands of the HPV virus are responsible for causing cervical cancer, but the primary strands, 16 and 18, are included in this vaccine.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 80 percent of American women will have acquired a genital HPV infection by age 50. Few HPV cases, however, develop to the point of cancer.

“Most people clear [the disease] in a year or so with their own immune system, but if you don’t take good care of yourself, or if your cells [mutate], it does progress to serious HPV infection and then to cervical cancer if left untreated,” said Ako Takakura, a research assistant for the Gynecologic Cancer Center at DHMC.

Comprehending how this particular virus causes cancer could help scientists create other vaccines against other forms of the disease.

“If we can find the way in which HPV actually interacts with the host genome, we can look with other cancers as well and see if there are parallel mechanisms,” said Diane Harper, a doctor working on the study.

This study could have global ramifications as well, as many cervical cancer cases occur in developing countries that lack the same resources that women in the United States or other “developed” countries have, according to the study’s leaders.

“This a great way for Dartmouth women to get involved in helping and improving women’s healthcare world wide,” said Takakura. “By participating in the study, by researching this vaccine, we can revolutionize women’s healthcare, we can help women all over the world can benefit from this.”

The vaccine has already been tested in over 1,000 women. From the data currently available, the vaccine prevents HPV 16 or 18 from infecting 100 percent of vaccinated women. Women who participate will not be purposefully infected with the vaccine. Rather, half of the 300 partakers will receive the HPV vaccine and the other 150 will receive a Hepatitis A vaccine. However, women who get the Hepatitis A vaccine will be offered the HPV vaccine upon conclusion of the study and vice-versa.

The study will enroll 300 women in the next few months, and the information will be sent to the Food and Drug Administration in order to make the vaccine public. After this particular study, there will be no public opportunity to be vaccinated for about seven to 10 years when Harper expects the vaccine to be made public.