Histological section showing cervical cancer cells are seen in a handout photo from the National Cancer Institute. (NCI/Handout/Reuters)

LONDON (Reuters) -
New screening tests and effective
vaccines from Merck & Co and GlaxoSmithKline make tackling
cervical cancer in poor countries a real possibility for the
first time, researchers said on Thursday.

Experts who presented their findings at a conference in
Geneva said the vaccines against the disease could be cost
effective but subsidies or new prices would be needed for
developing countries to afford the medicines.

“Efforts are needed now to adapt the current price of the
vaccines so they meet what individual countries can afford,”
Francesco Xavier Bosch of the Catalan Institute of Oncology in
Barcelona told the World Cancer Congress.

“The solution may be tiered pricing according to gross
national income per capita and according to the scale of
country efforts.”

Cervical cancer is the second most common type of cancer in
women and is caused by the sexually transmitted human papilloma
virus. Each year 500,000 women are diagnosed with the disease
and about 300,000 die from it, mostly in the developing world.

Merck's Gardasil and Glaxo's Cervarix are vaccines that
protect people against certain strains of the virus but the
$360 costs needed for the three shots for full vaccination is
too much for poor countries to afford, the experts said.

They determined that in the Asia-Pacific region, which
accounts for more than half of the world's cervical cancer
cases, vaccination would be cost-effective at $10-$25 per
vaccinated girl.

For Latin America and the Caribbean the amount would have
to be less than $25 per vaccinated girl to be cost effective,
the researchers said. Future studies will examine Africa, the
Middle East and Eastern Europe.

The drug companies have said in the past they would cut the
cost for developing nations substantially. A Merck spokesman
noted the company has said it would provide vaccines including
Gardasil at lower prices at which it would not profit.

“Recent estimates indicate that if trends continue the way
they are, developing countries will face a 75 percent increase
in the number of cervical cancer cases because of growth and
aging of the population in the next two decades,” Bosch said.

New screening techniques are also showing promise in small
studies as viable lower cost — and potentially more effective
– alternatives to pap smears, the experts said.

One new method called visual inspection with acetic acid
involves painting the cervix with vinegar and is a cheap,
attractive option because it appears effective in detecting
pre-cancerous lesions, requires only one visit and is a
treatment nurses can perform easily.

“More research is needed to determine an efficient
combination of these new approaches and each country will have
to decide which is best for them,” Bosch said.

(Reporting by Michael Kahn; editing by Rory Channing)