Benefit of fewer than three doses of HPV vaccine reported

June 10, 2015, by DCEG Staff

New data from a combined analysis of two independent trials of the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine strengthen previous findings from one of the trials that young women who received three, two, or one dose of the HPV 16/18 AS04-adjuvanted vaccine (Cervarix®), were equally protected against infection with the HPV types included in the vaccine four years after vaccination. The data from the two trials that were pooled for this analysis were the National Cancer Institute (NCI)-sponsored Costa Rica Vaccine Trial (CVT) and the GSK Biologicals SA-sponsored PApilloma TRIal against Cancer In young Adults (PATRICIA) trial.

Further, investigators observed that participants who received two doses six months apart showed evidence of partial protection against other HPV types not included in the vaccine formulation; experts refer to this as cross-protection. But women who received one dose, or who received two doses just one month apart, showed no evidence of cross-protection. The study was a collaborative effort by Aimée R. Kreimer, Ph.D., Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, NCI, Frank Struyf, GSK Vaccines, Cosette Wheeler, University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center, and colleagues and appeared June 10, 2015, in Lancet Oncology. Read more in the full NCI News Note.

Reference: Kreimer AR, Struyf F, Rowena Del Rosario-Raymundo M, et al. Efficacy of fewer than three doses of an HPV-16/18 AS04-adjuvanted vaccine: Combined analysis of data from the Costa Rica Vaccine and PATRICIA trials. The Lancet Oncology. Published online June 10, 2015.