(Yicai Global) Dec. 25 -- Cervical cancer is the most common gynecological malignant tumor and is mainly caused by human papillomavirus infection. 

A team led by Chinese scientist Xia Ningshao, dean of Xiamen University's school of public health, has now achieved third-generation vaccines targeting cervical cancer that can cover more than 20 (sub)types of HPV with only seven kinds of virus-like particles.

This lays a key technological foundation for developing third-generation cervical cancer vaccines that can tackle all high-risk subtypes of HPV, China's Science and Technology Daily, an official news portal of the country's science and technology ministry, reported.

The relevant research results of Xia's team recently appeared in Nature Communications, a peer-reviewed, open access, authoritative scientific journal. 

Both  current first and second-generation cervical cancer vaccines use 'virus-like  particles' similar to HPV's natural virus particle as the vaccine's antigens. The  new cervical cancer inoculation targets nine (sub)types of HPV and can  prevent almost 90 percent of resulting cervical cancers. 

Xia's research team adopted methods from newly-emerging structural vaccinology to design the vaccine. 

Editor: Ben Armour