Following the introduction of human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination in England, there was a substantial reduction in cervical cancer and the incidence of grade 3 cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN3), according to a study published in The Lancet.
Milena Falcaro, Ph.D., from King’s College London, and colleagues used an extension of the age-period-cohort Poisson model to estimate the relative risk for cervical cancer in three vaccinated cohorts compared with earlier cohorts that were not eligible for vaccination. Data were assessed for diagnoses of cervical cancer and CIN3 in women aged 20 to 64 years old from January 1, 2006, to June 30, 2019, living in England. Data were included for 13.7 million-years of follow-up of women aged 20 to <30 years old.
The researchers found that the estimated relative reduction in cervical cancer rates by age at vaccine offer was 34, 62, and 87 percent for age 16 to 18 years old, 14 to 16 years old, and 12 to 13 years old, respectively, compared with the reference unvaccinated cohort. For CIN3, the corresponding risk reductions were 39, 75, and 97 percent. There were an estimated 448 fewer than expected cervical cancers in vaccinated cohorts in England and 17,235 fewer than expected CIN3 cases by June 30, 2019.
“Girls and women eligible for HPV vaccination should be encouraged to receive the vaccine, at any age but ideally when first offered it, to ensure that this hugely successful vaccination program continues to benefit younger generations,” the authors write.
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