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Using high-resolution magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) with a special vaginal coil, a technique to measure the movement of water within tissue, researchers may be able to identify cervical cancer in its early stages, according to a new study being published in the November issue of Radiology.

Although most women in the U.S. can choose whether to take Merck’s human papillomavirus vaccine Gardasil, immigrant families with young daughters must “either abide by the mandate” requiring immigrant women ages 11 to 26 to receive the vaccine or “give up their American Dream,” Marisa Trevino — who writes the blog “Latina Lista” — says in a USA Today opinion piece.

The Federation of Medical Women of Canada (FMWC) is launching a Pap test campaign during Cervical Cancer Awareness week October 27-31, 2008. Women who do not have a family doctor or gynecologist will be able to drop-in or book an appointment with participating doctors during this campaign. “Cervical cancer remains a significant problem,” says Dr. Kathleen Gartke, FMWC President.

UQ’s cervical cancer vaccine co-creator Professor Ian Frazer has won the 2008 Prime Minister’s Prize for Science. Professor Frazer, Director of UQ’s Diamantina Institute for Cancer, Immunology and Metabolic Medicine, was presented with his prize by Prime Minister Kevin Rudd at a special ceremony in the Great Hall, Parliament House Canberra on October 16.

Professor Frazer, Director of UQ’s Diamantina Institute for Cancer, Immunology and Metabolic Medicine, was presented with his prize by Prime Minister Kevin Rudd at a special ceremony in the Great Hall, Parliament House Canberra tonight (Thursday, October 16) .

Advaxis Incorporated (OTCBB: ADXS) has provided a complete response to the FDAs questions regarding the proposed use in humans of Lovaxin C, a live Listeria vaccine directed against HPV induced disease, in the treatment of CIN.

A report released by CDC on Thursday said 25% of teenage girls in the U.S. between ages 13 and 17 received at least one dose of Merck’s three-shot human papillomavirus vaccine, Gardasil, last year, the Wall Street Journal reports (Corbett Dooren, Wall Street Journal, 10/10). The report indicates that about 2.5 million girls in the U.S. received at least one shot of the vaccine.

A recent survey by US health authorities suggests that about a quarter of American teenage girls have been vaccinated against HPV, the human papillomavirus, which is estimated to cause most cervical cancers.

Harald zur Hausen, the German researcher who discovered the human papillomavirus, was awarded half of the $1.4 million Nobel Prize in Medicine on Monday, the New York Times reports. The discovery eventually led to the development of two vaccines against HPV strains that cause most cases of cervical cancer, which is the second most common cancer among women.

This year’s Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine goes to Harald zur Hausen of Germany for establishing that human papilloma viruses (HPV) cause cervical cancer. He gets half of the prize, and the other half is shared by two French scientists, Françoise Barré-Sinoussi and Luc Montagnier, for their discovery of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV).