The cervical cancer vaccine study results

The double-blind study randomly assigned 2,392 women between 16 and 23 years old to receive three doses of placebo or an HPV-16 virus-like particle vaccine, and followed them for approximately 17 months.

The primary end-point was persistent HPV-16 infection, defined as the detection of HPV-16 in samples at two or more visits.

In the vaccine group, 99.7% developed anti-bodies to the virus.

In the placebo group, the incidence of persistent HPV-16 infection was 3.8 per 100 woman-years compared to 0 in the vaccine group.

All nine cases of HPV-16­related CIN occurred among placebo recipients.

Reference: NEJM 2002; 347:1645-51