I would advise my colleague to look into the HPV strains 31 and 45 when considering which strains should be covered by this new treatment. These strains seem like the best choice because they are known to be particularly lethal and often affect younger women which implies that they can overtake a relatively healthy immune system. In addition, these strains (along with strains 16 and 18) compose about 80% of cervical cancers, so discovering a treatment would be enormously beneficial to the population.
The treatment should be administered in a similar fashion to the current HPV16 and HPV18 vaccines because these vaccines have been proven to significantly reduce the chances of contracting both of these strains. This means that the treatment series should begin around age 11 and the second dose can be given 6 months later. If this treatment becomes a routine vaccination like the HPV16 and HPV18, I am confident that we would see a drastic reduction in cervical cancer.
The benefit of funding this treatment would certainly outweigh the cost of the funding. Although this is an expensive endeavor, treatment for cervical cancer is significantly more expensive and causes far more personal trauma than a simple vaccine would. Therefore, funding HPV31 and HPV45 vaccines is certainly worth the price.
