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Cervical cancer deaths are plummeting among young U.S. women

The findings could be a preview of what’s to come if HPV vaccination rates improve

An illustration depicting several cervical cancer cells as reddish blogs each covered in a tangle of filaments.

Deaths from cervical cancer (cells illustrated) in the United States have dramatically declined since 2016, researchers say.

Kateryna Kon/Science Photo Library/Getty Images Plus

By Andrea Tamayo

Rates of cervical cancer have decreased since a vaccine for human papillomavirus, or HPV, was introduced in 2006 (SN: 10/6/08). Now, a new study is the first to show a steep decline in cervical cancer deaths among the first women who were eligible for that vaccine in the United States.