Close-up of the cervical cancer vaccine. And compared to all the others, this vaccine has an originality. “This is one of the only vaccines that can prevent cancer, which is serious cancer“, recalls Alexandra Lery, medical oncologist at the Gustave Roussy Institute.” Cervical cancers, even if it is a relatively rare disease since we have 3,000 per year, we have more than 1,000 deaths “, explains t -she.
The history of the vaccine against cervical cancer is extremely recent as evidenced by Professor Jean-Luc Mergui, obstetrician gynecologist and head of the colposcopy unit at the Pitié-Salpêtrière hospital in Paris.
“When I started to take care of the cervical cancer and its precursors, that was in the 1980s. We didn’t even know what the cause of this cancer was. We knew it was probably due to a sexually transmitted disease, since women who had never had sex did not have cancer, “he says.
An effective vaccine
At the time, in fact, researchers favored the track of genital herpes, as a trigger thanks to the work of a German, Harald zur Hause, who was crowned with a Nobel Prize years later in 2008, we discover that this cancer responsible for 230,000 deaths worldwide are due to a virus, very common, in girls and boys belonging to the human papillomavirus family, the famous HPV.
“It’s a virus that almost everyone gets at the start of our sex lives, between the ages of 18 and 25. 80% of us get it, and about 90% of us get rid of it spontaneously. We know that the Egyptians found it on the mummies. This famous papillomavirus, when it was discovered, it is found on people who died thousands and thousands of years ago, “explains Dr. Mergui.
The first clinical trials took place in the early 2000s. The vaccine targets HPV 16 and 18, responsible for 70% of cervical cancers. 400 female volunteers will receive 3 injections. Efficacy and tolerance are very good. “Thanks to molecular biology, we have managed to manufacture the envelope of this virus. By injecting it, we manage to create an immune defense and therefore to actively defend against the virus, “explains Jean-Luc Mergui, who recalls that there is no treatment against the virus.
At the end of 2006, the vaccine received marketing authorization. It will be marketed in France under the name Gardasil, 450 euros, the 3 doses. In 2007, it was reimbursed at 65% and recommended for girls from 14 years old, before the start of sexual relations.
A controversy that weighs on vaccination coverage
A few years later, the controversy broke out. Young girls accuse the vaccine of having provoked at home autoimmune diseases, lupus, multiple sclerosis… A legal fight begins, played by Marie-Océane Bourguignon, a young 18-year-old from the Landes. Marie-Océane, testifies that day on RTL, with her parents Evelyne and Jean-Jacques.
“After the first injection, in the first 15 days, I was starting to feel tingling in my arm and leg. My leg, I no longer felt it, “says the young woman.” Every time we brought it from hospitals to hospitals, we brought it back less and less well, “says her father. is tired all the time, she doesn’t do whole weeks of classes. I don’t know what will become of her, “the mother worried.
Complaints will be dismissed. No causal link between the vaccine and pathologies of the central nervous system. Scientific studies are formal. At the time Daniel Floret, chairman of the technical vaccination committee, defended Gardasil. “There is no signal from that side in France. International pharmacovigilance data also do not show a link between this vaccine and any autoimmune disease“, he explains.
Avant-garde Australia
“Millions of doses have been distributed. We show off any perverse effects, we forget what the vaccine brings,” notes Daniel Floret. A controversy that will leave traces. France is one of the countries with the lowest immunization coverage. Less than 25% of young girls received the 3 doses. As for boys, also affected by a third of cancers linked to papillomavirus (penis, anus, tonsils and throat), the High Authority for Health has just recommended their vaccination, between 11 and 14 years old.
“This infection affects both men and women, moreover, men are often asymptomatic, they are called healthy carriers. They will infect a young woman, who will have symptoms. So it seems logical to vaccinate everyone if we want to eliminate the virus from a population “, clarifies Alexandra Lery
This is Australia’s bet where massive and free vaccination campaigns are organized in colleges. In 10 years, the rate of women carrying the two most dangerous papillomaviruses has dropped dramatically. Australia which promises that in less than 20 years, thanks to the vaccine, cervical cancer will be a bad memory.
