Current direction in the prevention of cervical cancer

Cervical screening seems to benefit a minor part of the world female population, and yet women who benefit from it still prove its weaknesses. The fact that these genital lesions are the consequence of a chronic genital infection with HPV opens new and extraordinary opportunities for prevention through vaccination. The highest efficacy is demonstrated in young women naive to the virus types associated with the vaccines. The effectiveness of HPV vaccines are limited by two factors: all genital cancers and precancerous lesions are not induced exclusively by HPV types 16 and 18, and the optimal benefit is demonstrated in adolescents and young women before they have encountered these viruses. Vaccination and screening act complementarily and synergistically, and constitute to date the new standards of disease prevention.