Following the demonstration of the superior validity of human papillomavirus (HPV) tests in screening for cervical cancer and the arrival of highly efficacious HPV 16 and 18 vaccines, cervical cancer prevention enters a time of sustainable introduction in developing countries. Multidisciplinary efforts and novel protocols are being developed, and challenging situations are being faced to make cervical cancer, still the number two cancer in women worldwide, an eradicable condition. The provocative title proposed by the editors of the British Journal of Cancer could have at first sight, a quick and intuitive answer: we will need both. We need human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccines to significantly reduce the health care burden currently required for cervical cancer prevention, and we need screening because of the limitations of current HPV vaccines both in their lack of therapeutic effect (thus not protecting women with an ongoing neoplastic processes) and in their limited number of HPV types (thus leaving to evolve some 25 -30% of cervical cancer cases related to HPV types other than 16 or 18). However, the answer only applies in scenarios in which screening is already developed and reasonably efficient. In populations without adequate screening, one could equally argue that HPV vaccines at affordable prices are the only realistic option. While these arrive, more efficient screening schemes, for example with low-cost HPV tests, requiring fewer visits or strategies involving rapid intervention like 'screen and treat' protocols, remain the only option for currently living adult women. Moreover, should polyvalent vaccines (including some five -eight HPV types) result in extending protection against more than 90% þ of the oncogenic HPV types, vaccination alone would be the answer for both scenarios. Thus, a complex answer to an apparent straightforward question.
PHASE III HPV VACCINATION TRIALSWith the publication of the key short-term results of the two major Phase III trials of HPV vaccines, the perspective of tackling cervical cancer prevention with vaccination has been unambiguously open. While recognising the limitations of the still moderate (5 -6 years) follow-up in a few tens of thousand young women, two vaccines to date have shown high efficacy, safety, immunogenicity, long-term duration of protection and a strong suggestions of induction of immune memory (Harper et al, 2006;Garland et al, 2007;Paavonen et al, 2007; The Future II Study Group, 2007).A number of clinically relevant issues remain to be fully described, including the magnitude and the HPV spectrum included in the cross protection effect, and the long-term effects of each of the HPV vaccines on cancer protection and safety. However, to solve these questions, it is unavoidable to continue the studies for additional follow-up time and the organisation of large Phase IV studies, some of which are already in place.The currently available vaccines offer full protection to HPV 16-and 18-naïve women for these two HPV types that cause an estimated 70% of ce...