HPV Research Brings UAMS Physician National Award

By ChaseYavondaC

 William Greenfield, M.D., recently received a national award for his research concerning immune responses to human papillomavirus.

William Greenfield, M.D., recently received
 a national award for his research concerning
 immune responses to human papillomavirus.

June 23, 2009 | While about 300 physician researchers recently submitted their work for recognition to the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology (ACOG), it was a University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) doctor who rose to the top.

William Greenfield, M.D., assistant professor in the UAMS Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, was awarded first place at the ACOG Annual Clinical Meeting in Chicago for his research concerning immune responses to human papillomavirus (HPV).

Greenfield’s project was conducted in collaboration with Mayumi Nakagawa, M.D., Ph.D., associate professor of pathology.

“The HPV vaccine available now is preventive, but there also is a need for therapeutic vaccines to help people who have already had exposure to the virus,” Greenfield said.

There are more than 100 types of HPV, many of which are transmitted through sexual contact. While the immune system of most women can suppress or eliminate HPV on its own, the virus persists in other women, potentially leading to cervical cancer.

“We know that the HPV16 virus is strongly associated with progression of disease, so we focused our research on the E6 and E7 proteins of that virus,” Greenfield said.

The research was conducted from January 2007-July 2008 and included 65 patients in the final analysis. Study participants were women who had previously received an abnormal Pap smear result and were at UAMS for a follow-up exam.

At the time of enrollment, none of the women had received any form of treatment specifically aimed at their abnormal results. During their visit to UAMS, Greenfield’s team collected samples from the cervix and the blood. Each patient’s immune response to HPV 16 was measured and compared to her initial test and follow-up Pap smear results.

Their findings concluded that the patients who showed improvement in their follow-up Pap smear also had a significant immune response to the E6 protein of HPV16, providing the possibility that the E6 protein may be an effective area to target a therapeutic vaccine.

“When you develop a vaccine, you have to locate the best area to target in order to achieve the highest immune response. Our contribution with this research is that we have located a possible target,” Greenfield said.