Objectives Cervical cancer remains a major public health challenge in India despite advances in prevention through human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination and screening. Although national estimates indicate gradual declines, marked regional disparities persist, and coronavirus disease 2019–related disruptions may have affected recent disease trajectories. This study assessed long-term trends, post-pandemic deviations, and progress toward World Health Organization (WHO) elimination targets in South India.
Methods This population-based observational analysis used Global Burden of Disease Study 2023 estimates for women aged 30–69 years in South India from 1990 to 2023. Pre-pandemic trends and counterfactual projections were evaluated, and age-standardized incidence rates (ASRs) were descriptively compared with the WHO elimination threshold of ≤4 cases per 100,000 woman-years.
Results Age-standardized cervical cancer incidence and mortality declined until the early 2010s but remained above national and global rates. Thereafter, declines stagnated and reversed. In 2023, incidence ranged from 26.1 per 100,000 women in Kerala to 65.8 in Telangana; all states exceeded the WHO threshold based on these ASRs. Observed rates exceeded counterfactual projections, but uncertainty envelopes included zero for every location and outcome. Thus, the findings are consistent with possible post-pandemic disruption to cervical cancer services rather than statistically demonstrated excess burden, and this ecological comparison cannot establish causality. Disability-adjusted life-year rates were highest among women aged 50–69 years.
Conclusion South India appears to have experienced a recent loss of momentum in cervical cancer control. Strengthening HPV vaccination coverage, expanding screening, and improving the resilience of cancer prevention services are essential for accelerating progress toward elimination targets.
Objectives This study aimed to identify the optimal protein construction for designing a multi-epitope vaccine with both prophylactic and therapeutic effects against cervical cancer, utilizing an immunoinformatics approach. The construction process involved using capsid epitopes L1 and L2, as well as oncoproteins E5, E6, and E7 from human papillomavirus (HPV) types 16 and 18.
Methods An experimental in silico analysis with an immunoinformatics approach was used to develop 2 multi-epitope vaccine constructs (A and B). Further analysis was then conducted to compare the constructs and select the one with the highest potential against cervical cancer.
Results This study produced 2 antigenic, non-allergenic, and nontoxic multi-epitope vaccine constructs (A and B), which exhibited the ideal physicochemical properties for a vaccine. Further analysis revealed that construct B effectively induced both cellular and humoral immune responses.
Conclusion The multi-epitope vaccine construct B for HPV 16 and 18, designed for both prophylactic and therapeutic purposes, met the development criteria for a cervical cancer vaccine. However, these findings need to be validated through in vitro and in vivo experiments.
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