Cervical cancer vaccine fizzles

According to the Centers for Disease Control, almost 80% of US women have acquired one or more types of Human Papilloma virus by the age of 50. However, over time most genital infections produce no symptoms and resolve spontaneously, probably due to nutritional factors that influence the immune system. The virus can persist in some women and cancer can develop over the subsequent 20-30 years, again proving that age is a primary factor in cancer. Immunizing 11-12 years olds would cost approximately $30 billion in the first 20 years (4 million children per year times $360 X 20) before the vaccine would save a single life, and even then the vaccine’s effects may wear off by then. That’s a $30 billion price tag for a type of cancer that represents only 0.7% of the cancer diagnoses and death each year in the US. [Nature Biotechnology 25: 261, 2007]