 | Nurse practitioner June Newman and Dr. David Whitaker.
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Health Services to study promising cervical cancer vaccine The Clinical Trials section of URI Health Services has been selected one of 13 sites in the country to conduct clinical trials of a promising vaccine for cervical cancer, the second most common cause of cancer-related death among women in the United States.
Health Services is now recruiting 100 women between the ages of 16 and 23 to participate in the study, which is sponsored by a major pharmaceutical company. Following screening, volunteers will be administered the vaccine three times over the course of six months and then monitored—a physical exam and Pap test—twice a year for several years thereafter.
“We’re recruiting students, community members, and any other women interested in participating. We also want to raise awareness about cervical cancer and the virus that causes it because it’s a new subject that hasn’t been addressed in schools,” said Dr. David Whitaker, medical director of clinical trials at URI.
It has been irrefutably established that the human papillomavirus (HPV), the most common sexually transmitted disease, is the cause of every abnormal Pap smear and 99 percent of cervical cancer cases, according to Whitaker. It affects 60 percent of all young women, though most are not aware of it because in most cases there are no visible signs of infection.
“There are about 80 different strains of HPV, and several of them are known to cause cancer,” explained Whitaker. “But there is currently no way to prevent the virus—other than abstinence—and there is no treatment or cure for it. What is known, though, is that the risk of contracting HPV is a staggering 15 percent per partner, so multiple sex partners increases the risk.” Condom use does not necessarily prevent infection.
Approximately 45,000 women in the U.S. are diagnosed with cervical cancer every year, and 5,000 per year die from the disease. About 10 million American women—most in their late teens and twenties—have active HPV infections.
Whitaker said that some women infected with the cancer-causing strains of the virus don’t develop cancer because their immune system successfully fights it. “Some women can carry the virus and transmit it to others but never get cancer. Or it can be dormant in their system for decades.”
The vaccine being studied is a yeast-based vaccine made in a similar way to the Hepatitis B vaccine that has been proven safe and effective, even for use on infants.
Whitaker and the majority of the medical community are optimistic that this vaccine will substantially reduce cervical cancer within a generation. “I’m having trouble containing my exuberance about this vaccine,” he said. “There’s a lot of excitement about it. There is no question in my mind that this is the most important project that I’ll be involved with in my entire career.”
URI was selected as a study site because of its long-standing relationship with many of the major pharmaceutical companies. “Clinical trials have been conducted here for more than 20 years, so when the pharmaceutical companies were looking for a site in New England to evaluate this vaccine, they chose us,” said Whitaker.
For further information about the study, go to www.rihpv.com or call nurse practitioner June Newman at 789-4960.
By Todd McLeish
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