Linkage of individual-patient data confirm protection of prophylactic human papillomavirus vaccination against invasive cervical cancer

INTRODUCTION

The Scottish study of Palmer et al., published in the current issue of this journal, linking vaccination files with cervical cancer screening data and the national cancer registry, demonstrates excellent protection against invasive cervical cancer among girls immunized at the age of 12 to 13 years with the bivalent human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine (Cervarix, GSK, Rixensart, Belgium) (1). The study completes and strengthens the evidence of the
high level of effectiveness of primary cervical cancer prevention by HPV vaccination based on intervention trials and populationbased surveillance of real-world data built up over the last two decades.