The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has launched the phase 1 clinical study of two herbal products Basant and Curcumin for eliminating human papillomavirus (HPV) infection in humans. The study is going on concurrently on both the products to find out which is more useful for treating HPV infection.

The study has been launched at multi-centres in different parts of the country. Apart from the Institute of Cytology & Preventive Oncology (ICPO), an arm of ICMR, at Noida near New Delhi, the study is being conducted at Tata Memorial Institute, Mumbai, Chitranjan National Cancer Institute, Kolkatta and All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi.

Both the molecules are developed by an institute in Bangalore. While Basant is a cream, Curcumin is in powder form. The study will go on for at least two years, an ICMR scientist said.

The study is being funded by Department of Biotechnology. Human papillomavirus is known to cause most cases of cervical cancer among women. It is a cancer that forms in tissues of the cervix (the organ connecting the uterus and vagina). It is usually a slow-growing cancer that may not have symptoms but can be found with regular Pap tests (a procedure in which cells are scraped from the cervix and looked at under a microscope).

With the cervical cancer cases on the rise in the country, the government has been looking for an efficacious drug for the deadly disease. According to estimates, thousands of women are affected by the HPV every year in the country.

On the other hand, the ICMR will soon launch the phase II clinical study of the HPV vaccine Gardasil, produced by US multinational company Merck & Co. Funded by the ICMR, the study will focus on the tolerability of this new three-stage vaccine among the Indian populace.