An experimental vaccine against human papillomavirus—HPV—appears to be safe, and most importantly, benefits patients who develop a rare airway cancer that manifests as recurrent obstructive growths requiring dozens, sometimes, hundreds of surgeries over a lifetime to keep the tumors at bay.
The tiny phase 1 clinical study of only 15 patients has served as a proof of concept, demonstrating that recurrent respiratory papillomatosis, a cancerous disorder of the upper airways, can respond to therapeutic vaccination. The tumors are caused by either type 6 or type 11 human papillomavirus.
Writing in Science Translational Medicine, scientists at the Center for Immune-Oncology, a division of the U.S. National Cancer Institute in Bethesda, Maryland, tackled the problem of recurrent respiratory papillomatosis by testing a vaccine strategy designed to prevent tumor development. Dr. Scott M. Norberg, lead author of the research, writes that the evolving approach is aimed at providing a pathway for the prevention of a condition for which there is no cure.
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