Vaccines linked to cancer reduction

Ten per cent of cancer cases in Britain could be prevented by vaccines, research has suggested.

A report published today by Cancer Research UK has detected a crucial link between “a handful of infections” and the “genetic accidents” which cause the development of cancer cells.

In particular, types of stomach cancer have been connected with a common bacterial infection, while viruses have been connected with cancers of the cervix, liver and nasal passages.

“Studying the association between infectious agents and human cancers is extremely important because, in such cases, infection represents one defined link in the chain of events leading to cancer development,” said Professor Alan Rickinson, the report’s leading author.

“Knowing this helps us to trace other links in the chain and to understand how the whole chain fits together.”

The long-term effectiveness of vaccines in preventing cancer has yet to be established, however, while vaccines do not exist for all the cancer-causing viruses.

“We don?t know yet how long immunity will last, and if booster vaccines will be required,” commented Dr Anne Szarewski, a clinical consultant at Cancer Research UK, on the vaccine for human papilloma virus (HPV), which causes almost all cases of cervical cancer,

Each year 1.8 million cases of cancer caused by viruses are discovered, representing 18 per cent of cancer cases worldwide.

© Adfero Ltd