A significant advancement in the fight against cervical cancer has been achieved by the National Polytechnic Institute (IPN), by eliminating 100% of the Human Papillomavirus (HPV) in the cervix of 29 women in Mexico City using an innovative technique called photodynamic therapy. Dr. Eva Ramón Gallegos, a researcher at the National School of Biological Sciences (ENCB) of IPN, presented the results of this pilot study.
Before receiving the therapy, all patients underwent a thorough series of diagnostic studies to identify premalignant lesions or HPV infections. Photodynamic therapy, which is safe and has no significant side effects, specifically targets only the affected cells, without damaging healthy structures.
During the treatment, a drug called delta-aminolevulinic acid was applied to the cervix, allowing for the focus on cells impregnated with this substance for their elimination. The efficacy of photodynamic therapy resulted in the elimination of HPV in 85% of the patients who only had the virus and 85% in those with HPV and premalignant lesions.
In the case of patients without lesions but with HPV, the effectiveness was 57.2%, while for patients with lesions without HPV, the success rate reached 42%. With the use of a higher concentration of delta-aminolevulinic acid in the patients treated in Mexico City, the results were even more promising, achieving the elimination of HPV in 100% of patients without lesions and reducing by 64.3% the patients with HPV and premalignant lesions.
Photodynamic therapy has shown itself to be a non-invasive treatment with great potential for preventing cervical cancer, which is the second leading cause of death for Mexican women. Dr. Ramón Gallegos's meticulous research on this technique has opened new possibilities in the fight against various neoplasms, with encouraging results in the elimination of HPV and precancerous lesions.
