Vaccine For Cervical Cancer On Its Way; Kingston, New York Medical Malpractice Attorney Discusses

Cancer Misdiagnosis

In this blog I normally talk about issues related to medical malpractice. However, sometimes there are developments in the health world that must be addressed even when they have nothing to do with medical malpractice. These issues must be addressed because of the impact that they could potentially have on medical community and individual’s lives. This is one of those issues.

In the past, I briefly have discussed this topic before. But now there have been some new developments that I think are important to discuss.

There are approximately 493,000 women diagnosed with cervical cancer each year and 274,000 deaths from cervical cancer each year. We know that one causes of cervical cancer are certain strands of HPV (human papillomavirus). The Center for Disease Control and Prevention says that at least half sexually active male and females have had HPV and HPV has 130 strands of the virus. Currently, the Gardasil and Cervarix vaccines are available for young women who have not contracted the virus and Gardasil has a vaccine for the men 26 and under from the virus. However, neither of these vaccines protects against all 130 strands of the HPV virus and none of them are available to women and men who have already been exposed to HPV.

It is well known that HPV can cause cervical cancer in women and now there is a vaccination in early stages of testing that would be given to woman who have HPV and have precancerous lesion due to HPV. This vaccine is different from those before because it is specifically designed for those who already have HPV. The vaccine was developed from synthetic DNA and pure water to enable a woman’s immune system to fight cervical cancer. This is significant because only 10 to 25% of woman who develop precancerous lesions have the ability to fight off the lesions. The idea behind this vaccine is to give women who are not able to fight off the lesions themselves, the ability to do so by boosting their immune system.

The vaccine was formulated to address all cancers cause by HPV strands 16 and 18. It was tested on eighteen women during its first phase of testing. This phase of the study showed promise, though it was not conclusive as the sample size was too small and there was no controlling group, the women did not experience any side effects from the vaccination. Phase 2 of the testing will include 150 women worldwide and will not be completed until the end of 2013.

Clearly, this vaccination is in the stages of development but it is encouraging to know that something like this vaccination could be on the horizon. Cervical cancer is the second most common cancer in the world and HPV can be a cause of it. So this vaccination and the research being done to help prevent cervical cancer are extremely important. We will continue to watch this vaccination’s development as well as other developments in the medical community that will help improve all of our lives.

But what do you think? I would love to hear from you! Leave a comment or I also welcome your phone call on my toll-free cell at 1-866-889-6882 or you can drop me an e-mail at jfisher@fishermalpracticelaw.com . You are always welcome to request my FREE book, The Seven Deadly Mistakes of Malpractice Victims, at the home page of my website at www.protectingpatientrights.com.