human papillomavirus HPV

Cancer-causing HPV plummeted in teens since vaccine, study finds

Source: www.cnn.comAuthor: Sarina Storres (CNN)The human papillomavirus vaccine was first recommended for adolescent girls in the United States in 2006. Since that time, the prevalence of the cancer-causing virus has been dropping among young women, according to a new study. Researchers at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention compared the rates of HPV infection in women 14 to 34 years of age during the years before the vaccine was recommended, between 2003 and 2006, with the most recent years for which data are available, 2009 to 2012. Among girls 14 to 19 years old, rates of infection with the four types of HPV included in the 4vHPV vaccine decreased from 11.5% to 4.3%. There was also a drop, although smaller, in women 20 to 24 years old, from 18.5% to 12.1%. Among the older groups, women ages 25 to 29 and 30 to 34, the prevalence of these HPV types did not change and was about 12% and 9%, respectively. "These results are very encouraging and show the effectiveness of the vaccine," said Dr. Lauri E. Markowitz, a medical epidemiologist at the CDC and lead author of the study, which was published Monday in the journal Pediatrics. "Eventually we expect to see decreases in HPV in older groups as women who were young (enough to get the vaccine) age," Markowitz added. Among the 14- to 24-year-old women in the study who were sexually active, rates of infection with the HPV types in the vaccine was only 2.1% among those [...]

Charlotte Parker2016-02-23T12:35:48-07:00February, 2016|Oral Cancer News|

Study: HPV vaccine reduces HPV incidence in teenage girls

Source: www.upi.comAuthor: Stephen Feller Just over half of girls have received the HPV vaccination, but a new CDC study shows it has significantly reduced prevalence of the cancer-causing STI among females who have received the vaccine when compared with those who have not. Photo by Adam Gregor/Shutterstock WASHINGTON, Feb. 22 (UPI) -- The prevalence of human papillomavirus infection among teenage and young adult women is down nearly two-thirds since the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention started recommending vaccine in 2006, according to a new study. The study is the first to show a drop in prevalence among women in their 20s, and continues to show decreases seen in smaller studies during the last few years, but researchers say the effect could be much stronger. The vaccine is recommended by the CDC and other organizations for girls and boys starting at age 11, experts say, in order to protect children from HPV before they become sexually active and can become infected. Concerns that the vaccine would influence teens' sexual practices have also been unfounded, as research has shown the vaccine does not make children more likely to engage in risky sexual behavior, based on a the lack of an increase in other STI incidence among vaccinated girls. "It's just like putting on your seatbelt before turning on the car," Dr. Alix Casler, medical director of pediatrics for Orlando Health, told UPI. She suggests separating the adolescents' eventual discovery of sex from the effort to prevent life-threatening diseases. Recommendations [...]

Charlotte Parker2016-02-22T13:59:16-07:00February, 2016|Oral Cancer News|

ASTRO: Study maps distinct molecular signatures of HPV-positive throat cancer patients by smoking status

Source: www.dotmed.comAuthor: ASTRO Scottsdale, Ariz., February 18, 2016, ASTRO -- Throat cancer patients exposed to both human papillomavirus (HPV) and tobacco smoke demonstrate a pattern of mutations along several key cancer genes, according to research presented today at the 2016 Multidisciplinary Head and Neck Cancer Symposium. These distinct molecular profiles of heavy and light smokers who develop HPV-positive oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma (OPSCC) may inform decisions related to treatment intensity by establishing additional prognostic criteria for this subset of patients. Researchers examined the molecular characteristics of OPSCC caused by HPV in an effort to determine which DNA mutations predict lower disease free and survival rates among HPV-positive throat cancer patients who smoke. Whereas most patients with OPSCC caused by HPV have an excellent prognosis for disease free survival, those who also smoke generally face more dire prognoses. The 66 cases of HPV-positive oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma (OPSCC) in this study were split into heavy and light smoking behavior groups based on pack years. This metric of smoking frequency over long stretches of time is determined by multiplying the number of years a person has smoked by their average number of packs of cigarettes smoked per day. Forty of the 66 patients reported more than 10 pack years (e.g., more than one pack per day for 10 years or two packs per day for five years), and 26 patients reported fewer than 10 pack years. “Throat cancer patients who smoked and had a history of fewer than 10 pack years had significantly [...]

Charlotte Parker2016-02-22T12:34:20-07:00February, 2016|Oral Cancer News|

The Beginning of the End: Vaccine Prevention of HPV-Driven Cancers

Source: JNCI - Journal of the National Cancer Institute Anna R. Giuliano, Aimée R. Kreimer and Silvia de Sanjose + Author Affiliations Affiliations of authors: Center for Infection Research in Cancer, H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center and Research Institute, Tampa, FL (ARG); Infections and Immunoepidemiology Branch, Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, MD (ARK); Cancer Epidemiology Research Programme, Catalan Institute of Oncology, IDIBELL, Spain (SdS); CIBER Epidemiologia y Salut Pública, Barcelona, Spain (SdS). Correspondence to: Anna R. Giuliano, PhD, Professor and Director, Center for Infection Research in Cancer, H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center and Research Institute, MRC-CAN CONT, 12902 Magnolia Drive, Tampa, FL 33612 (e-mail: [email protected]). In this issue of the Journal, Saraiya and coauthors present an important analysis of human papillomavirus (HPV) detection in tumors retrieved from select US sites prior to HPV vaccine implementation (2006) (1). Not only are these data necessary to evaluate future vaccine effectiveness in reducing cancers caused by HPV infection, but they will also aid in the growing assessment of the worldwide burden of tumors attributable to HPV infection. These data raise the question: How many cases of cancer can be prevented by HPV vaccination in the United States? Twenty years ago, in 1995, the World Health Organization recognized for the first time that HPV 16 is the cause of cervical cancer. In 2005, 10 years after this report, there was sufficient accumulated evidence to state that HPV 16 is also the cause of multiple cancers in men and women, [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2015-05-11T13:33:23-07:00May, 2015|Oral Cancer News|

An HPV Vaccination campaign to save boys’ lives

Source: The IndependentPublished: Sunday, February 2, 2014By: Charlie Cooper Immunisation used against cervical cancer in girls can also prevent diseases in young men The Government could save thousands of lives and hundreds of millions of pounds for the NHS by vaccinating boys against a cancer-causing virus at a cost of around £20m a year, a coalition of health experts and campaigners says. HPV Action, which has attracted the high-profile backing of leading charities and a medical royal college, wants the national vaccination programme against the human papilloma virus (HPV), currently only available to girls aged 12 to 13, to be extended to boys, amid growing evidence of the virus's role in causing cancers of the mouth and throat. Girls have been given the vaccine since 2008 to protect them against cervical cancer, which is known to be caused by HPV infection in most cases. But it is now well established that the sexually transmitted virus is also responsible for a significant proportion of cancers in other parts of the body, including the throat, anus and penis. Many scientists suspect it may be the root cause of rising rates of oral and throat cancers in both women and men. The campaign group will this week present new evidence from Denmark which counters the UK Government's assessment that vaccinating boys is unnecessary – and will argue that the human rights of British boys are being infringed by denying them the vaccine. Government experts last month began an investigation into the cost-effectiveness [...]

Charlotte Parker2014-02-03T17:49:23-07:00February, 2014|Oral Cancer News|

Number of cancer stem cells might not predict outcome in HPV-related oral cancers

Source: Medical XpressPublished: January 22, 2014By: Amanda J. Harper (Medical Xpress)—New research from The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center – Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute (OSUCCC – James) suggests that it may be the quality of cancer stem cells rather than their quantity that leads to better survival in certain patients with oral cancer. The researchers investigated cancer stem cell numbers in oral cancers associated with human papillomavirus (HPV) and in oral cancers not associated with the virus. Typically, patients with HPV-positive oral cancer respond better to therapy and have a more promising prognosis than patients with HPV-negative tumors. The latter are usually associated with tobacco and alcohol use. The OSUCCC – James team's findings, published in the journal Cancer, suggest that relying on the number of cancer stem cells in a tumor might inaccurately estimate the potential for the tumor's recurrence or progression. "We show that high levels of cancer stem cells are not necessarily associated with a worse prognosis in head and neck cancer, a finding that could have far-reaching implications for patient care," says principal investigator Quintin Pan, PhD, associate professor of otolaryngology and scientist with the OSUCCC – James Experimental Therapeutics Program. Head and neck cancer is the sixth most common cancer worldwide, with an estimated 600,000 cases diagnosed annually. Although the disease is often linked to alcohol and tobacco use, cancer-causing types of HPV are a major risk factor for the malignancy, and cases of HPV-associated oral cancers have [...]

Charlotte Parker2014-01-22T16:03:37-07:00January, 2014|Oral Cancer News|

Katie Couric show on HPV vaccine sparks backlash

Source: CBS NewsPublished: Thursday, January 5, 2013By: Ryan Jaslow Katie Couric’s talk show "Katie" has drawn ire from doctors and journalists for a recent segment on the HPV vaccine that presented what it called “both sides” of the “HPV controversy.” The segment included personal stories from two moms who claim their daughters suffered serious harm from the vaccine (one of them died). In addition, the show featured two physicians: one who researched the vaccine and thinks its long-term protection benefits are oversold, and one who recommends it to her patients, in line with recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the American Academy of Pediatrics. Ahead of the show, which aired Dec. 4, Couric tweeted: Dr. Arthur Caplan, director of the division of medical ethics at NYU Langone Medical Center in New York City, did not feel it was appropriate to juxtapose the anecdotal stories with the medical evidence. He had hoped more weight would be given to the scientific evidence of the vaccine’s safety profile and effectiveness at preventing cervical cancer. “The show was kind of inexcusable in terms of damage done versus positive contribution,” he told CBS News. Any time you’re vaccinating hundreds of thousands of people, Caplan said, you can expect that some people in that population will have health incidents occur. But their ailments may not necessarily be connected to the vaccine. What needs to be weighed is the cause and effect, versus what may be just coincidence. Mentioning such incidents in that [...]

Charlotte Parker2013-12-06T14:41:54-07:00December, 2013|Oral Cancer News|

Four Ways Katie Couric Stacked The Deck Against Gardasil

Source: ForbesPublished: Wednesday, December 4, 2013 This afternoon, Katie Couric ran a long segment on her daytime talk show, Katie, about what she called the “controversy” over the vaccines against human papilloma virus, or HPV, an infection that causes cervical, throat, penile, and anal cancers. She featured one mother who says that Gardasil, the HPV vaccine made by Merck , killed her daughter, and a young woman, seated with her mother, who said that Gardasil had caused years of illness that made her think she might die. (GlaxoSmithKline GSK +0.15% makes another HPV vaccine, Cervarix, that is less commonly used in the U.S.) Alongside those stories, Couric also featured two medical experts: Dr. Diane Harper, the chair of family and geriatric medicine at the University of Louisville, who helped test Gardasil but has since argued that the vaccine has been over-marketed and its benefits oversold; and Mallika Marshall, a Harvard Medical School doctor who is Couric’s in-house medical correspondent. Marshall defended the vaccine; strangely, only her arguments appear on the show’s Web site. Despite the attempt at balance, I think most viewers will be left with the impression that the vaccine is dangerous and that its benefits don’t outweigh its risks – a conclusion that is not shared by the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Academy of Family Physicians, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, or the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention. Here’s how Couric stacked the deck against the HPV vaccine: 1. By downplaying the effectiveness of [...]

Charlotte Parker2013-12-05T13:18:37-07:00December, 2013|Oral Cancer News|

Incidence of oropharyngeal cancer on the rise

Source: News-Medical.netPublished: November 22, 2013 NCI scientists report that the incidence of oropharyngeal cancer significantly increased during the period 1983-2002 among people in countries that are economically developed. Oropharyngeal cancer occurs primarily in the middle part of the throat behind the mouth, including the base of the tongue, the side and back walls of the throat, and the tonsils. The results of this study, by Anil K. Chaturvedi, Ph.D., Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, NCI, and his colleagues, appeared online in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Nov. 18, 2013. Recent studies from several countries have reported rising incidence of oropharyngeal cancers and subsequent studies have shown the human papilloma virus (HPV) as the potential cause. However, it has been unclear whether this increase in oropharyngeal cancer incidence represents a global phenomenon. Chaturvedi and his collaborators at Ohio State University and the International Agency for Research on Cancer evaluated incidence trends for oropharyngeal and oral cavity cancers. Their analysis was based on cancer registry data from more than 180,000 patients in 23 countries. They found that oropharyngeal cancer incidence increased overall among both women and men from 1983 to 2002, almost exclusively in economically developed countries. Among women, in all countries with significant increases in oropharyngeal cancer incidence, there was also an increase in incidence of both oral cancer and lung cancer, two cancers strongly associated with smoking. In contrast, among men, rising oropharyngeal cancer incidence was generally accompanied by decreases for oral cancer and lung cancer. These observations among [...]

Charlotte Parker2013-11-22T14:42:00-07:00November, 2013|Oral Cancer News|

HPV Oral Cancer: Low Risk for HPV Transmission

Source: MedScapeBy: Zosia ChusteckaPublished: June 6, 2013 CHICAGO, Illinois — Because human papillomavirus (HPV) is transmitted through sexual contact, patients with HPV-related cancer often ask whether their partners are at risk and whether they should they change their sexual practices. For patients with HPV-related oral cancers, data from the Human Oral Papillomavirus Transmission in Partners Over Time (HOTSPOT) study, presented here at the 2013 Annual Meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO®), will be reassuring. In the small pilot study of 166 patients with HPV-related oral cancer and 94 long-term partners, researchers measured HPV DNA in oral rinse samples taken at baseline and at 1-year follow-up. The results show that the partners do not appear to be at increased risk for HPV infection, so they are not at increased risk for HPV-related oral cancer, the researchers conclude. "This is reassuring for patients and their partners," said lead author Gypsyamber D'Souza, PhD, MPH, MS, from the John Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore, Maryland. At a press briefing, she explained that patients are often anxious about this issue, and has heard of instances where it has led to divorce. "Couples who have been together for several years have likely already shared whatever infections they have and no changes in their physical intimacy are needed." However, "with new partners, caution is always advised," she added. Results Not Surprising The results are not surprising, Otis Brawley, MD, chief medical officer for the American Cancer Society, told Medscape Medical News. [...]

Charlotte Parker2013-11-11T13:32:20-07:00November, 2013|Oral Cancer News|