Development, effectiveness, and future directions of HPV vaccines

Human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccines are vaccines used to prevent sexually transmitted diseases caused by HPV. HPV infection is the leading causation that causing the cervical cancer. Specifically, high-risk-type, for instance, HPV-16 and HPV-18, are also connected with some other cancers. This article summarizes the development mechanism, availability, clinical trials, and problems faced by HPV vaccines. Currently, there were three approved HPV vaccines, including bivalent vaccine, quadrivalent vaccine, and nine-valent vaccine, which can prevent different types of HPV infection. The widely utilization of HPV vaccines has notably diminished the occurrence of diseases that are connected with HPV, especially to guard against cervical cancer. However, research on therapeutic HPV vaccines is still in its early stages, and the results of existing studies in terms of effectiveness and side effects are not ideal. Despite this, therapeutic vaccines remain a promising area in HPV research. This article summarizes the mechanism and effect of preventive HPV vaccines, explores the current status of therapeutic vaccine development, and provides basic information for future HPV vaccine research. Future research should focus on developing more targeted therapeutic vaccines and continue to improve preventive vaccines to cover more high-risk HPV types.