Nonsurgical Options for Cervical Cancer

Advances in the treatment options for diseases associated with the human papillomavirus (HPV) include nonsurgical options such as vaccines and chemoprevention.

Previously, the standard treatment has been to surgically remove the infected tissue, which puts some patients at risk for reproductive consequences and does not ensure that all infected tissue has been eliminated. Methods such as chemoprevention and vaccines eliminate these risks and present possible cures without invasive means.

Chemoprevention involves the use of micronutrients or pharmaceutical agents to delay or prevent the development of cancer from HPV in healthy patients. Treatment of infected tissues can be monitored through colposcopy, which is relatively noninvasive, since the cervix is readily available. Two different types of vaccines are being used. One is a prophylactic vaccine that focuses on human immune responses to help prevent HPV infection. The other vaccine is a therapeutic vaccine that stimulates the immune response to eliminate cells already infected.

While surgery has been the standard treatment for HPV-related disease to date, researchers comment that other viral diseases are not treated that way. New research underway is reviewing treatments in order to make further advances in nonsurgical options.

The study was authored by Maria C. Bell, M.D., associate professor in the department of obstetrics and gynecology at the University of South Dakota School of Medicine (Vermillion, USA). The study was published in the March 2005 issue of the International Journal of Gynecological Cancer




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