Cervical cancer is the second most important cancer in women after breast cancer. Approximately 500,000 new cases are identified each year. There is a huge discrepancy between incidence in developed and developing countries largely due to the availability of screening and treatment facilities in industrialized countries.
Cervical cancer is a sexually transmitted disease caused by the human papillomavirus.
Infection with HPV usually occurs in the early years of sexual activity but it takes up to twenty years for it to develop into a full blown malignant tumour. HPV role in triggering off cervical cancer was discovered in 1983. Ten years later, researchers in several countries are working on the prototype vaccine. Some groups are trying to create a prophylactic vaccine, while others are developing a therapeutic vaccine for women who are already infected. Others are combining the two approaches.