Gardasil

Mouth tumors increase; same virus causes cervical cancer

Source: The Oregonian (www.oregonlive.com) Author: Cynthia Billhartz Gregorian St. Louis Ten years ago, most of Dr. Brian Nussenbaum's oral cancer patients were men over 60 who used tobacco and drank heavily. Today, his patients with oral cancer look different. And so does the risky behavior that seems to be leading to their cancer. Nussenbaum, an ear, nose and throat doctor at Washington University, estimates that 70 percent of his cancer patients have tumors on the back of their tongues and tonsils caused by human papillomavirus-16. Most patients are between ages 45 and 55. About half are women. And experts suspect that all got the HPV from oral sex. "We know now that 98 percent of cervical cancer is caused by HPV, and mostly HPV-16," says Nussenbaum. "But no one talks about how you can also get mouth cancer from it." Last week, Dr. Harald zur Hausen, a German doctor and scientist, was awarded the Nobel Prize for medicine for finding human papilloma viruses that cause cervical cancer, the second-most-common cancer among women. In awarding zur Hausen the prize, the Nobel assembly said he "went against current dogma" in the 1970s when he discovered that certain types of HPV caused the cancer and that the DNA of HPV could be found in tumors. More than 20 years passed before researchers at Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center reported a link between HPV and these specific throat cancers in 2000. They and other medical experts suspect the increase in HPV oral cancer stems [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2008-10-15T14:06:48-07:00October, 2008|Oral Cancer News|

Green card applicants mandated to get HPV vaccine

Source: www.therapeuticsdaily.com Author: staff A new requirement that girls as young as 11 be vaccinated against a sexually transmitted virus before they can become legal U.S. residents is unfair, immigration advocates say. The federal rule added Gardasil to the list of vaccinations that female immigrants ages 11 to 26 must get before they can obtain "green cards." The series of three shots over six months protects against the strains of the human papillomavirus blamed for most cases of cervical cancer and genital warts. But the vaccine is one of the most expensive on the market and controversial. "This is a huge economic, social and cultural barrier to immigrants who are coming into America," said Tuyet Duong, senior staff attorney for the Immigration and Immigrant Rights Program at the Asian American Justice Center. At a cost of $400, Gardasil places an added burden on green card applicants already paying more than $1,000 in form fees and hundreds of dollars for mandatory medical exams, advocates say. The mandate potentially affects tens of thousands of women and girls annually. More than 200,000 women and girls ages 10 to 29 were granted legal permanent resident status each of the past two years. Past efforts to require the vaccine for American girls has stirred emotional debate and complaints that such mandates intrude on family decisions about sex education. In Texas, lawmakers last year fought off an order by Gov. Rick Perry requiring the shots for sixth grade girls amid questions about vaccine's safety, efficacy and [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2008-10-07T08:11:31-07:00October, 2008|Oral Cancer News|

Sanofi Pasteur MSD’s HPV vaccine Gardasil(R) wins Prix Galien award

Source: www.medicalnewstoday.com Author: staff The two HPV vaccines currently licensed for use in the UK were jointly awarded the coveted Prix Galien Medal for Innovation at a ceremony held on Wednesday evening in the Palace of Westminster, House of Commons. "We are absolutely delighted at the recognition given to the world's leading HPV vaccine Gardasil® - this award reflects the work of many people, all around the world, involved in making the dream of a cancer vaccine a reality", said Dr Nicholas Kitchin, Medical Director, accepting the award on behalf of the Sanofi Pasteur MSD team. "Both companies have developed the technology of HPV vaccines down different paths," he continued, "we chose a quadrivalent vaccine strategy, targeting a broader range of HPV-related genital disease than cervical cancer alone, with the aim of delivering additional benefits for patients and healthcare systems." The joint award for the two HPV vaccines, developed by Sanofi Pasteur MSD and GSK, was presented by Andrew Lansley CBE MP, Shadow Secretary of State for Health. The distinguished panel of seven judges, chaired by Professor Sir Michael Rawlins, selected the HPV vaccines as the winners from seven innovative products that reached the final. Vaccines have won in four of the last five Prix Galien awards and the UK award for Gardasil® follows similar success in Prix Galien competitions in the USA and France. Current experience with the four-type HPV vaccine Thirty years after the discovery that human papillomavirus (HPV) can cause cervical cancer, 15 years after the start [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2008-09-29T18:53:38-07:00September, 2008|Oral Cancer News|

HPV increases men’s risk for oral cancer, prompts calls for vaccine: pathology expert Dr. Shashi Pawar on HPV health concerns for men

Source: www.prweb.com Author: press release HPV, the human papillomavirus, is well known for its role in causing cervical cancer in women - so much so, in fact, that the National Institutes of Health recommend all girls be vaccinated against the virus when they are 11 or 12, prior to becoming sexually active. However, recent research shows that women are not the only ones at risk for developing HPV-related cancers. Oral cancers caused by the virus are increasing rapidly in men, and researchers suggest HPV may soon overtake tobacco use as the leading cause of these cancers of the mouth, tongue, throat and tonsils. "The human papillomavirus is one of the most insidious and dangerous sexually transmitted diseases for women, as it has been linked to a vast majority of cervical cancers," explains Dr. Shashi Pawar, PhD, FACMG, Director of Genetics at Acupath Laboratories. "We are now seeing the effects of HPV infection in men, and the marked increase in oral cancer - coupled with the well-known increased risk for penile and anal cancers - suggests that both sexes face equally serious health consequences from this virus," Dr. Pawar notes. Cumulative research spurs call for men's vaccine A benchmark study that tracked more than 30 years of oral cancer data from the National Cancer Institute found that the rate of oral cancer caused by the HPV virus, rather than lifestyle habits such as smoking or chewing tobacco, has risen steadily since 1973 and is now about even with the incidence rate [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2009-05-08T19:03:42-07:00September, 2008|Oral Cancer News|

Gardasil vaccine eradicating human papillomavirus infections

Source: news.com.au Author: Kate Sikora The new cervical cancer vaccine is expected to almost eradicate human papillomavirus (HPV) infections in Australian women by 2050 if the high rate of immunization amongst girls continues. Research to be released today by the Cancer Council NSW reveals the number of new HPV cases in women will fall by more than 50 per cent in the next two years. In 40 years, the number of cases will fall by 97 per cent. A national program launched last April has seen 3.7 million girls vaccinated with Gardasil, which has the potential to prevent up to 70 per cent of cervical cancers. Before the vaccination program, there were 108,000 new infections of HPV16 - responsible for 50 per cent of cervical cancers - every year, but that number is expected to fall to 47,000 by 2010. Dr Karen Canfell, lead author of the study, warned the reduction in HPV would only occur if girls continued to be vaccinated. "We expect to see a very fast reduction in the number of new HPV infections, largely due to the high school vaccination program, which we estimate has achieved high coverage of just over 80 per cent of 12-13-year-old girls," she said. "This reduction will only occur if we maintain this high vaccination coverage among younger age groups." Gardasil has attracted controversy over its rate of adverse reactions. Nationally, there have been 1013 reports of adverse side effects from Gardasil to the Therapeutic Goods Administration. Girls have reported allergic [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2008-07-24T21:12:24-07:00July, 2008|Oral Cancer News|