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June 8, 2006

Cervical Cancer Vaccine Wins U.S. Approval

Topics: Medicine

Here's some good news for both women and men - Merck's Gardasil, a vaccine against a sexually transmitted virus, human papillomavirus, or HPV, that causes cervical cancer has gained approval for sale in the U.S. It's the first vaccine specifically designed to prevent a cancer.

t will be the first vaccine licensed by the FDA that can prevent a cancer that kills a large number of women each year," said Dr. Michael Keefer, an associate professor in the infectious disease division at the University of Rochester School of Medicine in New York. "If that's not a breakthrough, I don't know what is."

Gardasil is made by Merck & Co. Inc., a global pharmaceutical company.

There are about 100 strains of human papillomaviruses, which can cause warts on different parts of the body. At least 30 strains are sexually transmitted, and about 10 of those can also cause cellular abnormalities that lead to cervical cancer, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Read more on the approval Merck's Gardasil...

Related:
ASCO: Cervical Cancer Vaccine Also Protective for Vaginal and Vulvar Lesions

Gardasil Sign Up

Cancer and morality

Posted by Richard at June 8, 2006 1:59 PM

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