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SUMMARY:Elimination of cervical cancer by 2050: Reality or wishful thinkin
 g - Professor Margaret Stanley\, Dept of Pathology\, Cambridge
DTSTART:20190305T123000Z
DTEND:20190305T133000Z
UID:TALK120379@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Sue Griffin
DESCRIPTION:Every 2 minutes somewhere in the world a woman dies of cervica
 l cancer a preventable disease. Cervical cancer is caused by infection wit
 h a virus the human papillomavirus\, HPV. In addition the precancerous pha
 ses are detectable and treatable. It is a cancer which should be effective
 ly prevented by vaccination to prevent infection and screening to detect t
 he easily treatable pre-cancers. Highly safe and effective vaccines that c
 an prevent the majority of HPV infections that cause cervical and other HP
 V-associated cancers are available. Tests for screening and detection and 
 methods to treat cervical pre-cancerous lesions have been in place for dec
 ades in high income countries (HIC) and are proven to reduce cervical canc
 er incidence. - Combining HPV vaccination at high coverage for adolescents
  and high coverage of cervical screening for older women\, with appropriat
 e treatment\, could eliminate cervical cancer as a public health problem. 
  But there are big hurdles for HPV vaccines\; they face virulent anti-vacc
 ine activism\, they are against a sexually transmitted infection and deliv
 ered to young adolescents\, an age group unused and often refractory to an
 y medical intervention.  \n\nHowever recent modelling suggests if the curr
 ent coverage for HPV vaccination and screening is maintained in countries 
 such as the UK and Australia cervical cancer could be almost eliminated by
  2050. To achieve this globally\, these primary and secondary intervention
 s for prevention will need to be expanded\, to include those not currently
  vaccinated or screened and this means women in low and middle income coun
 tries (LMIC). These are big challenges. Broad dissemination of HPV vaccine
 s has been achieved in some low and high resource countries\, but needs to
  be scaled up globally\, to reach the majority of age eligible individuals
 .  Strengthening of cervical cancer screening strategies in LMIC has prove
 d hugely difficult in the past 2-3 decades and may be insuperable without 
 economic development in the poorest regions. \n\nVaccination with high eno
 ugh coverage could in time make cervical cancer a disease of historic inte
 rest only\, this is achievable but does require international collaboratio
 n\, political leadership and a collective will.  Allowing women to rot to 
 death from a preventable cancer cannot be tolerated in the 21st century.
LOCATION:Lecture Theatre\, Department of Pathology\, Tennis Court Road
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