Mexican team reports experimental HPV treatment clears virus

A Mexican HPV study is circulating again because the underlying result is real, but it is not a new cure announcement. The research was published in 2023 in *Photochemistry and Photobiology* by a team including María Teresa López-Cárdenas and Eva Ramón Gallegos of Mexico’s Instituto Politécnico Nacional, or IPN. The paper reported results in 29 women from Mexico City who received photodynamic therapy for HPV infection, cervical intraepithelial neoplasia grade I, or both. The June 2 social-media attention appears to stem from fresh posts recirculating those findings and framing them as a potential advance against cervical cancer. The study itself was small, and the authors wrote that the treatment looked “promising,” not definitive. ### What exactly did the Mexican team test? The treatment in the paper was photodynamic therapy, or PDT, which uses a light-activated compound to target abnormal tissue. (europepmc.org) The authors said they were studying whether PDT could eliminate HPV, early cervical lesions known as CIN I, and some pathogenic microorganisms in women from Mexico City. IPN’s project page links the 2023 paper to Ramón Gallegos’ broader line of work on HPV and cervical lesions. (europepmc.org) The institute also lists an earlier 2017 paper on PDT in Mexican women with HPV-16 and HPV-18 associated with CIN I, showing the June 2 discussion refers to a longer-running research program rather than a one-day result. ### How many patients were in the study, and what were the results? The 2023 paper said 29 women were included across three groups: women with CIN I, women with CIN I plus HPV, and women with HPV infection alone. (europepmc.org) After six months following PDT, the authors reported HPV elimination in 100% of the HPV-only patients, 64.3% of patients with CIN I plus HPV, and 57.2% of patients with CIN I alone. The same paper also reported reductions in some microorganisms, including *Chlamydia trachomatis* and *Candida albicans*. (ipn.mx) The authors wrote that normal microbiota were less affected, and said the findings suggested PDT could be useful for cervical infections. ### Why are people linking this to cervical cancer? Cervical cancer is closely tied to persistent HPV infection, especially high-risk strains, which is why any treatment that appears to clear HPV draws attention. (europepmc.org) The abstract of the Mexican paper says cervical carcinoma is a major cause of cancer death in Mexican women and describes CIN as a premalignant lesion that can develop after HPV infection. The Pan American Health Organization said in a February 3, 2026 statement that countries in the Americas still need to expand vaccination, screening and treatment to meet cervical-cancer elimination targets. (europepmc.org) That puts the Mexican study in a wider public-health context: vaccines help prevent new infections, while therapeutic approaches would be aimed at people already infected. ### Does this mean HPV has been “cured”? The strongest caution is the sample size: 29 women is too small to settle whether the treatment works broadly. The paper itself describes PDT as a “promising therapy,” and the social-media framing on June 2 goes beyond what the published study alone can prove. The study also did not establish a universal cure for all HPV infections or all patient groups. Its reported outcomes differed by subgroup, and the evidence cited publicly so far points to an early-stage clinical result that would need larger, controlled trials before practice could change. (paho.org) That is an inference from the study design and sample size, based on the published abstract and IPN’s listing of the work. ### What should readers watch next? (europepmc.org) The next concrete milestone is a larger confirmatory trial from Ramón Gallegos’ group or another independent team using photodynamic therapy in a broader patient population. For now, the main published reference being cited is the March 1, 2023 *Photochemistry and Photobiology* paper with DOI 10.1111/php.13791, and IPN’s HPV project page also points readers to related earlier and follow-up work. (europepmc.org)