Abstract:
Cervical cancer is recognized as a serious public health problem since it remains one of
the most common cancers with a high mortality rate among women despite existing preventative,
screening, and treatment approaches. Since Human Papillomavirus (HPV) was recognized as the
causative agent, the preventative HPV vaccines have made great progress over the last few years.
However, people already infected with the virus require an effective treatment that would ensure
long-term survival and a cure. Currently, clinical trials investigating HPV therapeutic vaccines show
a promising vaccine-induced T-cell mediated immune response, resulting in cervical lesion regression
and viral eradication. Among existing vaccine types (live vector, protein-based, nucleic acid-based,
etc.), deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) therapeutic vaccines are the focus of the study, since they are
safe, cost-efficient, thermostable, easily produced in high purity and distributed. The aim of this
study is to assess and compare existing DNA therapeutic vaccines in phase I and II trials, expressing
HPV E6 and E7 oncoproteins for the prospective treatment of cervical cancer based on clinical
efficacy, immunogenicity, viral clearance, and side effects. Five different DNA therapeutic vaccines
(GX-188E, VGX-3100, pNGVL4a-CRT/E7(detox), pNGVL4a-Sig/E7(detox)/HSP70, MEDI0457) were
well-tolerated and clinically effective. Clinical implementation of DNA therapeutic vaccines into
treatment regimen as a sole approach or in combination with conservative treatment holds great
potential for effective cancer treatment