Prevention for Deadly Disease

A new vaccine developed as a result of research at the Stritch School of Medicine is among medicine’s newest weapons against the human papillomavirus (HPV) that causes cervical cancer.

A team of Loyola researchers, Lutz Gissmann, Martin Muller, Jian Zhou and Jeanette Paintsil, invented the technology that has been developed into the vaccine, Cervarix. Gissmann said the licensee and manufacturer, GlaxoSmithKline, “has made a very strong, efficient vaccine.”

The vaccine was approved recently by the Food and Drug Administration.

The vaccine is approved for girls and young women. It protects against two types of a virus called human papillomavirus (HPV), which is the predominant cause of cervical cancer. The Loyola researchers developed and patented the HPV vaccine, and did further studies to facilitate vaccine development by the manufacturer. The vaccine stimulates the immune system to produce antibodies to HPV. If an immunized individual is exposed to HPV, her immune system will be primed to attack and destroy the virus.

The vaccine protects against Type 16 and Type 18 of the HPV virus, which cause 75 percent of cervical cancers in North America. The vaccine may also provide protection against other cancer-causing HPV types.

“It is a very effective vaccine against the most common cause of cervical cancer, and it’s most effective when given to young women before exposure to the virus,” said Dr. Sondra Summers, an associate professor in the Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology at Stritch.