NewsTrending topic
Did a Mexican Scientist Clear HPV With Light Therapy? What the Real Study Shows
A viral Instagram post says a Mexico City researcher cleared HPV in every woman in one small study group using light-activated therapy. The study is real, but it is a small pilot, not a new cure, and comments calling it a cancer cure go further than the data.
Original commentary from the Cancer Explained editorial team.
Please note: this page is educational only — it is not medical advice, and it does not speculate about anyone’s health beyond reliable public reporting. For questions about your own health, talk with your healthcare team.
Nothing has loaded from Instagram. We do not connect you to Meta unless you ask, because that would let them set cookies through this page. Open it on Instagram instead.
A post from the Instagram account @thatsinteresting describes research by Dr. Eva Ramón Gallegos. She is a scientist at Mexico's Instituto Politécnico Nacional (IPN). Her work uses a light-activated treatment against HPV. Comments on the post range from hopeful to conspiracy-minded. Some readers call it a cure for cancer. Some worry the researcher will be silenced. The research is real and worth explaining calmly. But it is smaller and more limited than many readers seem to think.
What the post says
The post says a pilot study of 29 women in Mexico City found no HPV after treatment in every woman who had HPV without cervical changes. It says results were lower for women with both HPV and cervical changes. It also notes that the findings came from specific groups and are not a cure for every HPV infection.
What the evidence says
Dr. Ramón Gallegos and her team at IPN have published research on this since at least 2017. It was checked by other scientists before publication. The treatment is called photodynamic therapy (PDT). They used it on cervical changes linked to HPV.
A 2017 study in the journal Photochemistry and Photobiology included 30 Mexican women with HPV, mild precancer of the cervix (called CIN I), or both. It looked at the HPV-16 and HPV-18 types of the virus. The women had follow-up at 3, 6 and 12 months.
A 2023 paper in the same journal studied 29 women in Mexico City. This is the source of the "29 women" figure. Six months after treatment, HPV was gone in all of the women who had HPV alone. It was gone in 64.3% of women with both HPV and CIN I. In women with CIN I alone, the result (57.2%) was not statistically significant.
PDT itself is not new in cancer care. It is approved for some other cancers and precancers. These include some skin conditions, Barrett esophagus, esophageal cancer and some lung cancers. Here is how it works. A drug that reacts to light is put on the area. Then a certain kind of light makes the drug form a type of oxygen that kills the cells. See our photodynamic therapy explainer for more.
What the post gets ahead of
These were small early studies. They were not large trials that randomly sort patients into groups. As of this writing, they have not led to an HPV treatment approved by the FDA.
The 100% and 64.3% figures come from small groups of patients. Results like these need to be repeated in bigger, independent trials. Only then can they change medical guidelines.
The women in the study had HPV, early precancer changes of the cervix, or both. They did not have cervical cancer. So "clearing HPV" here is not the same as treating a cancer.
The body usually clears HPV on its own within a year or two, with no treatment. That is one reason researchers need larger trials with a comparison group. Those trials can show how much of the effect comes from the treatment and how much from the body's own immune system.
Comments calling this a cure for cancer go further than the study does. We found no support for comments saying the researcher is being silenced. Her team has kept publishing this research for years. Calling a real but early finding a hidden cure-all is its own kind of false information.
When to talk to your care team
You may have an abnormal Pap or HPV test. If so, ask your care team what your results mean and what the next step is. The usual next steps are repeat testing, a closer look at the cervix called a colposcopy, or standard treatment for precancer changes. Many abnormal results do not lead to cancer. PDT for HPV is not yet offered as routine care outside of research. If you are curious about it or about a clinical trial, your care team can help you weigh it.
The HPV vaccine is still the best-proven way to prevent the infections that lead to cervical cancer. NCI says it may prevent up to 90% of cancers caused by HPV. This research is a fair reason for careful hope about future options. It is not a reason to skip or delay the screening or care you've been advised to get.
Sources
- Maldonado Alvarado et al., "Effectiveness of Photodynamic Therapy in Elimination of HPV-16 and HPV-18 Associated with CIN I in Mexican Women," Photochemistry and Photobiology (2017): pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- López-Cárdenas et al., "Elimination of Human Papillomavirus and Cervical Pathological Microbiota with Photodynamic Therapy in Women from Mexico City with Cervical Intraepithelial Neoplasia I," Photochemistry and Photobiology (2023): pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- National Cancer Institute, "HPV and Cancer": cancer.gov
- National Cancer Institute, "Photodynamic Therapy to Treat Cancer": cancer.gov
How this article was prepared
An AI-assisted editorial system helped prepare this page. It used the published studies cited above. It also used National Cancer Institute guidance on HPV and photodynamic therapy. This is a source check only. No named medical reviewer has reviewed it.
Cancer Explained is published by the National Cancer Information Foundation. It is not medical advice and does not suggest a test or treatment.
See an error, old source, or unclear wording? Tell us.
Know someone who needs this?
Plenty of people are looking for something like this and do not know where to start. If this would help a friend or someone you love, send it on — we have written an opening line so you do not have to stare at an empty message. You can change every word of it.
Your message is written and sent in your own email or messaging app — we never see who you send it to, and nothing is added to any list.
Put the story in context
Prevention, possible warning signs, screening, and diagnosis
This story relates to Cervical cancer. The information below is general: it does not reveal anything else about a public person’s health, and not every point applies to every cancer. Personal advice depends on age, symptoms, family history, exposures, and medical history.
Prevention and risk reduction
Not every cancer can be prevented. Avoiding tobacco, protecting skin from ultraviolet radiation, limiting alcohol, staying active, and receiving recommended HPV or hepatitis B vaccination can lower the risk of certain cancers. A risk factor is not a prediction or a cause in one individual.
Symptoms and possible early signs
Possible signs vary and are often caused by conditions other than cancer. Changes worth discussing include a new lump, unexplained bleeding or weight loss, a persistent cough, lasting bowel or bladder changes, a changing skin spot, or symptoms that persist or worsen. Some early cancers cause no symptoms.
Screening and early detection
Screening looks for certain cancers before symptoms begin. Recommended tests exist only for some cancers and depend on age and risk. Screening can have benefits and harms; it is not the same as evaluating a new symptom, and there is no single routine scan or blood test that reliably screens for every cancer.
How cancer is diagnosed
Diagnosis may involve a history and exam, imaging, laboratory tests, and often a biopsy. Pathology can identify the cancer type and may test biomarkers that guide treatment. Symptoms, screening results, tumor markers, or online stories alone cannot confirm cancer.
Learn about this story’s cancer topic
A public story may encourage questions, but it should not be used to estimate your risk or choose testing. Contact a healthcare professional about a persistent or concerning change. Seek urgent care for severe or rapidly worsening symptoms.
Related Cancer Explained resources
Go deeper with NCI
Watch the short version
Under a minute, captioned, and sourced from federal health agencies.
Pressing play loads the video from YouTube’s privacy-enhanced player (youtube-nocookie.com). Nothing loads from YouTube before then. Educational only, not medical advice.