Cervical cancer vaccine shows promise

Positive results » More research is needed but the DNA vaccine alone boosts immunity.

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Also, he said, the current research goes a long way toward "making a DNA vaccine practical and useful in humans, rather than only in animal models."

Plotkin, a co-discoverer of the rotovirus vaccine, is a consultant to vaccine manufacturers, including Inovio, but was not involved in the study.

Most side effects of the vaccine were minimal and deemed unrelated to the treatment, the Science paper reported.

After nine months - the official conclusion of the study - the participants were still producing T cells, Kim said. However, he said, the effect seems to be more durable than that. Tests up to three years later showed the vaccination was still working.

Inovio is currently conducting phase II trials on about 150 women worldwide who have untreated precancerous lesions. Kim said the results of that study are expected by the end of 2013.

Kim said it could be four to six years before the vaccine, if it ultimately proves effective, could be commercially available.

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