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Cancer Vaccine Research

A viral immunologist currently researching the possibility of a vaccine for cervical cancer, the second most common type of cancer in women, is optimistic about success in animal models within the near future.

Dr Merilyn Hibma, a Health Research Council Repatriation Fellow at the University of Otago, is working with one specific type of the human papillomavirus, type 16. Twenty of the 70 types of HPV have been linked to cervical cancer, and type 16 is thought to cause around 60% of all such cancers. "It is one of only a small number of cancers known to have a viral cause," says Hibma, "which means that it is potentially preventable."

The work involves cloning viral genes in bacteria so that researchers can isolate a specific protein which is linked to the virus's replication. It is hoped that people immunised with this protein will develop an immune response that will kill virally infected cells.

Until recently it was thought that this type of immunisation strategy would not stimulate protection against the virus, but research has shown that, with the use of particular agents to enhance the immune system, this type of infection can be controlled.

The development of the vaccine is still dependent on the clinical success of an immune response enhancer, currently undergoing trials in the US, that would be used in conjunction with the protein. Tests on mice are likely to begin within the next month.