Prophylactic and Therapeutic Human Papillomavirus Vaccine: A breakthrough for women health

Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) associated cervical cancer is amongst the ten most common cancers in women in the developing world. New vaccines markedly reduce the economic burden of diseases on a country's health system. Two types of HPV vaccines are available; prophylactic and therapeutic. Prophylactic vaccines target (Late protein) L1 and to a lesser extent L2, which stimulate neutralizing antibody response and are recommended to individuals prior to infection. Therapeutic vaccines are recommended to individuals who are already exposed to HPV infection and these induce a specific T-cell mediated immune response targeted to (Early protein) E6 and E7 oncogenes for the eradication of existing lesion. Several studies have been done which show that these vaccines are highly effective. This review highlights the pathogenesis of HPV infection, importance of HPV vaccines, recent advances and few clinical trials on prophylactic and therapeutic HPV vaccine, their economic impact and the need to implement the vaccination programmes in the developing world.