Grant: Project Grant

The human papilloma virus (HPV) is the most common sexual transmitted disease worldwide, with 80% of the population acquiring an HPV infection at least once in a lifetime. While most infections are naturally cleared by our immune system, some persist and lead to cancer. HPV causes nearly all cervical cancer in women and causes anal and penile cancers in men. In Canada, in 2022, about 1450 Canadians were diagnosed with cervical cancer and near 400 died from it. Worldwide, cervical cancer is the second most common cancer diagnose in women aged 15-44. There is a vaccine that protects against HPV infection; however, it is not available or affordable to many globally and vaccination rates are below targets that the World Health Organization suggested is needed for the elimination of cervical cancer. To develop a therapeutic HPV vaccine that will clear existing infection, it is extremely important to understand how the virus is cleared naturally. This study will build on the 43-year relationship between the U of Manitoba/University of Nairobi and community members. The Sex Worker Outreach Program (SWOP) has developed 10 clinics around Nairobi, which focus only on sex workers' health. During researcher/SWOP community consultations, HPV and HIV research were priorities for the community. Our proposal will look at different immune cells to understand and identify markers of natural HPV clearance. As half of HPV infection are naturally cleared after 6-12 months, we will follow HIV infected and uninfected women with HPV infection for one year. This study focuses on understanding the blood and tissue immune environment among women who clear HPV infection in the presence or absence of HIV co-infections. This proposal will identify the immune cells that are important in the natural clearance of HPV. By studying these "immune success stories" our goal is to identify these HPV clearance associated immune factors that are important for a therapeutic HPV vaccine to mimic.