The Need for Therapeutic HPV Vaccines as a Means of Curbing the Menace of Cervical Cancer

Purpose One of the leading causes of sexually transmitted diseases and other mucosal and epithelial-associated diseases is human papillomavirus, especially type 16 and 18. African women with normal cytology have been reported to have the highest prevalence of HPV and also higher tendency of developing invasive cervical cancer due to certain sociocultural and economic factors. Despite this, a cost-effective therapy (vaccine) for human papillomavirus is yet to be produced. Body HPV vaccination (with prophylactic HPV vaccines) is targeted towards preventing infection, but the public health goal is preventing cervical cancer. However, these vaccines had been found not to be effective in eliminating pre-existing lesions, not effective in clearing established HPV infections, and are very expensive especially in low-income countries; thus, the need for therapeutic HPV vaccines that are geared towards preventing low-grade lesion from progressing, controlling the spread of metastatic cancer, regressing existing lesion and finally preventing recurrence of cancer following treatment is highly sought. Conclusion Therapeutic vaccines that broadly target oncogenic HPV types at an early stage, and that are inexpensive, are urgently required.