New Drug for HPV Might be Effective in Curbing Vulvar Cancer

A Dutch study has recently confirmed that an experimental medicine targeted at human papillomavirus (HPV) can prove much effective in curbing the growth of precancerous tumours in the vulva. The vaccine has been found effective to stop their growth, thereby preventing them from turning into cancerous malignancies.

Experts have been saying that Gardasil and Cervarix, two popular HPV medicines, might spur precancerous tumours in the cervix and cause as many as 70% of cervical cancers. But the Dutch study, published in the New England Journal of Medicine's November 5 edition, looks at a new, experimental drug, which is found to be even more effective in prevention.

"This provides a therapeutic effect to a lesion that's already there", explained Dr. Eugene P. Toy, an associate professor of obstetrics and gynaecology at the University of Rochester Medical Center. HPV-16, a sexually transmitted pathogen is largely linked to some rare cancers of the throat, genitals and anus. It is also said to be a cause of genital warts. Preventive medication for the same is highly recommended to young women.

Current treatments available for vulvar lesions are not all that effective and most people tend to avoid them as well. If the results of the study, which are currently being analyzed, are confirmed, it will give the world a new way for dealing with precancerous vulvar tumours, a definite medical breakthrough.

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