LITTLE ROCK — Researchers at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences will soon begin testing a therapeutic vaccine designed for women who are infected with the human papillomavirus.
Dr. Mayumi Nakagawa, associate professor of pathology, will use a $3.3 million, five year grant for the first phase of a clinical trial, designed to determine a safe dosage range and potential side effects on a small test pool before the drug is given to a larger group of participants, a UAMS news release said.
The grant was provided by the National Institutes of Health Research Project Grant Program.
Existing vaccines for the virus are only effective for women and girls who’ve never been affected by it, UAMS said.
The virus typically clears itself from the body naturally, but it persists in about 10 percent of cases, potentially leading to cervical cancer, UAMS said.
Researchers will test the vaccine of a group of infected women, monitoring the size of their precancerous lesions to determine its effectiveness.
According to the American Cancer Society, about 12,200 new cases of invasive cervical cancer will be diagnosed in 2010 and about 4,210 women will die from it.
Arkansas, Pages 16 on 09/28/2010