Human Papillomavirus (HPV) News and Research

Latest Human Papillomavirus (HPV) News and Research

Women being screened too often for cervical cancer

Researchers based at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) found that many primary care doctors would bring women back for cancer screening annually - while recommendations generally call for a three-year wait after normal tests. This translates to higher costs to women and the healthcare system, as well as a risk of unnecessary treatment for false-positive test results - with very little additional cancer-catching benefit say experts. Lead author Katherine Roland said, “There's really no advantage to annual screening compared to screening every two or three years.”

18 Aug 2011

Majority of physicians continue to recommend annual cervical cancer screening

Investigators from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have determined that the majority of primary care providers continue to recommend annual cervical cancer screening, and less than 15% would extend the screening interval when using the Papanicolaou test and human papillomavirus (HPV) test together, as some guidelines suggest.

18 Aug 2011

Curis initiates CUDC-101 Phase I combination trial in advanced head and neck cancer

Curis, Inc., a drug development company seeking to develop next generation targeted small molecule drug candidates for cancer treatment, today announced that the first patient has been treated in a Phase I combination trial of CUDC-101.

17 Aug 2011

Health overhaul draws political support, fire in various campaigns

It was a hot topic when Texas Gov. Rick Perry announced his campaign for the GOP presidential nomination. It's also been a hot topic in town hall meetings and congressional campaigns.

16 Aug 2011

Starpharma starts bacterial vaginosis prevention study of VivaGel

Starpharma Holdings Limited today announced the commencement of its Phase 2 study of VivaGel for the prevention of bacterial vaginosis (BV), following receipt of ethics approval.

15 Aug 2011

HPV-related throat cancer cases increase sharply over the past 10 years

Forty-two-year-old Manahawkin, New Jersey resident David Caldarella can recite a long list of dates off the top of his head. The first one starts with the day he found a lump on the right side of his neck while shaving. It was March 23, 2010. Caldarella immediately called his physician.

8 Aug 2011

New HHS rule requires insurance coverage for contraception, other preventive services for women

The regulations, which were issued Monday by Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, implement what is likely to be one of the most wide-reaching and popular provisions of the health law.

3 Aug 2011

New birth control guidelines in U.S.

Planned parenting groups are cheering while some religious organizations are unhappy with the move that would require health insurance companies to provide women free birth control, in keeping with new Obama administration guidelines. The Department of Health and Human Services call it “historic” and also say that insurance companies must provide women with other preventive services free of charge.

1 Aug 2011

Preventive health services at no additional cost for women: HHS

Historic new guidelines that will ensure women receive preventive health services at no additional cost were announced today by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).

1 Aug 2011

Skin cancer vaccine on the way: Cancer expert Prof Ian Frazer

In a major medical breakthrough, cancer expert Prof Ian Frazer is on the verge of developing a vaccine against skin cancer within a year. The former ‘Australian of the Year’ and creator of the world's first cervical cancer vaccine, Gardasil, has developed a world-first strategy to combat the insidious disease that affects two out of three Australians.

31 Jul 2011

Merck reports worldwide sales of $12.2 billion for second quarter 2011

Merck, known as MSD outside the United States and Canada, today announced financial results for the second quarter of 2011.

29 Jul 2011

Studies reveal new set of mutations linked with head and neck cancer

Powerful new technologies that zoom in on the connections between human genes and diseases have illuminated the landscape of cancer, singling out changes in tumor DNA that drive the development of certain types of malignancies such as melanoma or ovarian cancer.

29 Jul 2011

Male circumcision may reduce HPV-associated penile precancerous lesions

A University of North Carolina-led international study shows that among Kenyan men, circumcision is associated with a lower prevalence of human papillomavirus-associated precancerous lesions of the penis.

29 Jul 2011

NPR: Vaccine cost-benefit analysis complicates guidelines

The group that advises the U.S. government on vaccination thinks some new vaccines may not be worth the cost. In 2009, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, or ACIP, decided it's not cost effective to routinely vaccinate boys for human papillomavirus, though they do recommend the vaccine for girls.

22 Jul 2011

Inovio reports strong immune responses with VGX-3100 vaccine for cervical dysplasia and cancer

Inovio Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a leader in the development of therapeutic and preventive vaccines against cancers and infectious diseases, has reported data demonstrating long-term durability of T cell immune responses of up to over two years (at the latest time measured) in 7 of 8 evaluated patients following a fourth vaccination of VGX-3100, its investigational SynCon® DNA vaccine for treating cervical dysplasia and cancer caused by human papillomavirus (HPV) that is delivered using intramuscular electroporation.

15 Jul 2011

PharmAthene demonstrates 36 month stability of rPA anthrax vaccine program candidate

PharmAthene, Inc. announced today that it has achieved an important program milestone in its recombinant protective antigen (rPA) anthrax vaccine program and demonstrated 36 month stability of its rPA drug product candidate previously produced at Avecia Biologics Laboratories in the United Kingdom. The stability data were prepared utilizing a variety of analytical methods and a well characterized mouse challenge potency assay.

14 Jul 2011

Source BioScience receives NHS approval for automated cervical cancer screening technology

Source BioScience (LSE: SBS), the international diagnostics and genetic analysis business, is pleased to announce that the National Health Service Cancer Screening Programmes (“NHSCSP”) has approved the use of the BD FocalPoint “No Further Review” technology for cervical cancer screening in the UK. This is the only automated cervical screening technology which has been approved.

13 Jul 2011

Study reveals link between HPV infection and SCC in organ transplant recipients

A new study published in the American Journal of Transplantation reveals an association between the human papillomavirus (betaPV) infection and cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) in organ transplant recipients.

13 Jul 2011

UAB receives $31.7M award for Adolescent Medicine Trials Network for HIV/AIDS Interventions

The University of Alabama at Birmingham has received a five-year, $31.7 million award for its Adolescent Medicine Trials Network for HIV/AIDS Interventions (ATN), formed in 2001 to respond to the HIV epidemic in youth.

1 Jul 2011

Nature News examines controversy surrounding Indian HPV vaccine trial

After four teenage girls involved in a clinical trial in India testing vaccines for human papillomavirus (HPV) died last year, the study "threatens to have a dual legacy: inflaming unfounded fears about a lifesaving vaccine and raising new questions about the management of medical research in the country," Nature News reports.

24 Jun 2011