A preliminary study for the treatment of cervical colposcopic lesions with the biological compound AV2

Objective: To evaluate the efficacy of AntiViral 2 (AV2) in the regression of moderate and severe colposcopic lesions, when compared to placebo. Materials and Methods: Women, aged over 18 years with a colposcopic diagnosis of moderate to severe dysplasia were randomized to receive either two applications of AV2 or placebo within four days. Both examining physician and patients were blinded to the treatment option. Follow-up colposcopy was performed on days 11, 21, and 60. Results: A total of 50 patients were enrolled in this study. There was no statistically significant difference in screening entry criteria between the two groups. The results showed that the application of AV2 yielded a reduction of more than 50% for 21 out of 28 (75%) patients who received the active treatment versus a 0% for the comparable placebo group (p < 0.001). Conclusions: The authors conclude that AV2 can have a place in the treatment of colposcopically-detected cervical lesions. Due to the proven broad spectrum antiviral activity of AV2, a plausible explanation is that the lesions regress due to deactivation of the virus. Further trials with larger numbers and detailed cytology and histology are needed to confirm these results.

Cervical lesion; Colposcopy; Human papillomavirus; AV2; Essential oil; Treatment.

[1] Bosch F.X., Munoz N.: “The viral etiology of cervical cancer”. Virus Res., 2002, 89, 183.

[2] Ferlay J., Shin H.R., Bray F., Forman D., Mathers C., Parkin D.M.: “Estimates of worldwide burden of cancer in 2008: GLOBOCAN 2008”. Int. J Cancer, 2010, 127, 2893.

[3] Jemal A., Siegel R., Ward E., Hao Y., Xu J., Thun M.J.: “Cancer statistics, 2009”. CA Cancer J. Clin., 2009, 59, 225.

[4] Kersemaekers A.M., Fleuren G.J., Kenter G.G., Van den Broek L.J., Uljee S.M., Hermans J., Van de Vijver M.J.: “Oncogene alterations in carcinomas of the uterine cervix: overexpression of the epidermal growth factor receptor is associated with poor prognosis”. Clin. Cancer Res., 1999, 5, 577.

[5] Saraiya M., Berkowitz Z., Yabroff K.R., Wideroff L., Kobrin S., Benard V.: “Cervical cancer screening with both human papillomavirus and Papanicolaou testing vs Papanicolaou testing alone: what screening intervals are physicians recommending?” Arch. Intern. Med., 2010, 170, 977.

[6] Massad L.S., Einstein M.H., Huh W.K., Katki H.A., Kinney W.K., Schiffman M., et al.: “2012 updated consensus guidelines for the management of abnormal cervical cancer screening tests and cancer precursors. Obstet. Gynecol., 2013, 121, 829.

[7] Schiffman M., Castle P.E., Jeronimo J., Rodriguez A.C., Wacholder S.: “Human papillomavirus and cervical cancer”. Lancet, 2007, 370, 890.

[8] Cesa Alliance: Available at: http://www.cesa-alliance.com/webapp/index.html

[9] Chaieb K, Hajlaoui H, Zmantar T, Kahla-Nakbi AB, Rouabhia M, Mahdouani K, Bakhrouf A: The chemical composition and biological activity of clove essential oil, Eugenia caryophyllata (Syzigium aromaticum L. Myrtaceae): a short review. Phytother Res., 2007, 21, 501.

[10] Shoji Y., Ishige H., Tamura N., Iwatani W., Norimatsu M., Shimada J., Mizushima Y.: “Enhancement of anti-herpetic activity of antisense phosphorothioate oligonucleotides 5’ end modified with geraniol”. J. Drug Target., 1998, 5, 261.

[11] Guido R., Lonky N.M., Diedrich J.: “Secondary prevention of cervical cancer part 3: evidence-based management of women with cervical intraepithelial neoplasia”. Clin. Obstet. Gynecol., 2014, 57, 302.

[12] Yi J.L., Shi S., Shen Y.L., Wang L., Chen H.Y., Zhu J., Ding Y.: “Myricetin and methyl eugenol combination enhances the anticancer activity, cell cycle arrest and apoptosis induction of cis-platin against HeLa cervical cancercell lines”. Int. J. Clin. Exp. Pathol., 2015, 8, 1116.