Graduation Year

2019

Document Type

Campus Only Senior Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelor of Arts

Department

W.M. Keck Science Department

Second Department

Biology

Reader 1

Marion Preest

Reader 2

Sarah Budischak

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Terms of Use for work posted in Scholarship@Claremont.

Rights Information

© 2018 Annabella Ribeiro de Oliveira

Abstract

Human papillomavirus (HPV) infection currently stands as the most common sexually transmitted disease in the world. With an estimated lifetime probability of disease acquisition of 84.6% for females and 91.3% for males with at least one sexual partner, HPV is an aggressive and ubiquitous virus that affects people from all walks of life. The virus generally resolves on its own within 1 year, but successful disease progression leads to complications ranging from genital warts to anogenital cancers. Globally, there are 530,000 new cases of, and 274,000 deaths caused by, cervical cancer in females each year, 99.7% of which are caused by HPV and 70% of which are caused by HPV types 16 and 18. With high rates of infection and 85% of cervical cancer cases concentrated in developing countries, the virus presents an immense threat to public health and global equity. Prophylactic vaccines demonstrate high efficacy against common HPV-related diseases, including cervical cancer, but the high cost and multiple-dose administration of the vaccine limit its full disease-fighting potential. This proposal seeks to determine if a single-dose prophylactic vaccine targeting HPV-16 and -18, when administered in preadolescence, demonstrates long-term efficacy against cervical cancer. Vaccine-induced antibody responses will be measured using geometric mean titers obtained from blood samples, and efficacy of the vaccine will be evaluated by persistent high-risk HPV (HR-HPV) infection, measured through Pap smears and HPV DNA tests. The study will extend 22 years post-vaccination. The single-dose vaccine is expected to provide protection against HR-HPV infection at rates comparable to those of multiple-dose vaccines currently in practice, with the implications of increasing accessibility of the vaccine and, thus, decreasing the global burden of cervical cancer.

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