Promising directions in the development of new vaccines against papillomavirus infection

Abstract

Papillomavirus infection is one of the most common viral infections worldwide. Highly oncogenic types of human papillomavirus (HPV) are the root cause of cancer of the cervix, vulva, vagina, genitals in men, anal cancer, as well as cancer of the oropharyngeal region. Currently, three HPV vaccines have been registered and successfully used in Russia: divalent (HPV types 16, 18) and quadrivalent (HPV types 6, 11, 16, 18). In the countries of America and Europe, a nine-valent vaccine is available, which contains nine types of HPV (6, 11, 16, 18, 31, 33, 45, 52, 58). These vaccines are preventive, have high immunogenicity and induce the production of specific antibodies. The action of preventive vaccines is aimed at creating specific humoral immunity to the capsid proteins of the virus, which leads to the prevention of HPV infection. Nevertheless, there are no specific medicines on the pharmaceutical market aimed at treating an already established pathology. Currently, active development of HPV vaccines with both preventive and therapeutic effects is underway. Candidates of therapeutic HPV vaccines undergo various stages of research. Experimental vaccination systems on animal models provide encouraging results. If preventive and therapeutic HPV vaccines prove to be effective in patients as well as in animal models, then pillomavirus infection and related malignant diseases can be controlled by vaccination.