Further good news from prophylactic human papillomavirus vaccines: Long-term duration of immunity

Abstract

Evaluation of: Romanowski B, de Borba PC, Naud PS et al.; GlaxoSmithKline Vaccine HPV-007 Study Group: Sustained efficacy and immunogenicity of the human papillomavirus (HPV)-16/18 AS04-adjuvanted vaccine: analysis of a randomised placebo-controlled trial up to 6.4 years. Lancet 374(9706), 1975-1985 (2009). Observational studies in three different countries assessed the efficacy of human papillomavirus (HPV)-16/18-AS04 adjuvanted vaccine in women who were naive to oncogenic HPV infection at the time of vaccination. A primary analysis of efficacy was conducted on the according-to-protocol cohort for efficacy for the virological end points and on the total vaccinated cohort for efficacy for the cytohistological end points. In the total vaccinated cohort, HPV-16/18-AS04 adjuvanted vaccine conferred protection against HPV-16/18 infection for up to 6.4 years after vaccination. This period is the longest reported for any HPV vaccine, indicating that boosters are not needed, which considerably decreases the complexity and costs of the delivery program, particularly in low-resource countries. © 2010 Future Medicine Ltd.