Gardasil

HPV vaccine; cancer prevention

Source: www.nujournal.com Author: staff Human papillomavirus (HPV) is a sexually transmitted infection, of several strains, most associated with cervical cancers. The virus is so common that nearly all males and females have been infected at some time in their life. One in four is currently infected in the nation. Signs and symptoms of HPV are variable. Most will recover from the virus within two years without ever knowing they were infected, making HPV easy to spread. Occasionally, the virus lasts much longer in the body which can cause cells to change and lead to cancer. Fortunately, we have a vaccine to prevent cancer caused by HPV. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved three vaccines for HPV; Cervarix, Gardasil, and Gardasil 9. These vaccines are tested and proven to be safe and effective. Prevention is important with HPV. The vaccine should be administered before exposure to the virus for stronger protection against cervical, vaginal, vulvar, penile, and some mouth or throat cancers. (Gardasil and Gardasil 9 also prevent genital warts and anal cancer.) The best age to obtain maximum potential of the vaccine is at 11 or 12 years old. At this age, the body’s immune system is the most receptive to the vaccination’s virus-like particles and the body produces higher amounts of antibodies in defense, protecting the adolescent for his or her future. Both girls and boys should get the HPV vaccine. For ages 9-14, two doses – six to twelve months apart, are recommended. For 15-26 year [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2017-04-17T13:13:58-07:00April, 2017|Oral Cancer News|

GlaxoSmithKline pulls Cervarix from U.S. market

Source: www.managedcaremag.com Author: staff In response to “a very low market demand,” GlaxoSmithKline has decided to stop selling its human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine Cervarix in the United States, according to FiercePharma. The move gives Merck’s Gardasil unchallenged dominance of the HPV vaccine market in this country. Last year, Cervarix earned only about $3.7 million in the U.S. out of a $107 million worldwide total. In contrast, the global total for Merck’s Gardasil franchise was $1.9 billion. Figures from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) last year placed HPV vaccination rates at 42% of girls and 28% of boys ages 13 to 17 years––far short of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ goal of 80% for both boys and girls by 2020. To combat the public’s lukewarm response, the CDC and other cancer organizations are urging health care providers to promote the cancer-prevention benefits of HPV vaccines rather than stressing that they protect against sexually transmitted infections, which puts off some parents who worry the vaccine will promote promiscuity or who feel that their preteens are too young to need the shots, according to the Wall Street Journal. HPV, which is transmitted sexually, can cause at least six types of cancer as well as genital warts. The vaccine is recommended for boy and girls at age 11 or 12 and is also given at other ages. Experts are urging pediatricians to present the vaccine as routine, rather than different from other preteen shots. They are also stressing [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2016-10-31T07:25:20-07:00October, 2016|Oral Cancer News|

Pre-Teens need just two doses of HPV vaccine, not three: Feds

Source: www.nbcnews.com/health Author: Maggie Fox There's good news for kids who haven't received all their HPV vaccines yet - they only need two doses of the vaccine instead of three, federal government advisers said Wednesday. The new recommendations should make it easier to get more children vaccinated against the human papillomavirus (HPV), which causes a range of cancers including cervical cancer, throat cancer and mouth cancer, officials said. "It's not often you get a recommendation simplifying vaccine schedules," said Dr. Nancy Messonnier, Director of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The CDC immediately accepted the recommendations from its Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices. "Safe, effective, and long-lasting protection against HPV cancers with two visits instead of three means more Americans will be protected from cancer," said CDC Director Dr. Tom Frieden. "This recommendation will make it simpler for parents to get their children protected in time." The CDC says every pre-teen boy and girl should get the vaccine, but fewer than a third have received all three doses. Messonnier says the three-dose schedule was based on the earliest studies of the vaccine. New studies show that two doses protect people for decades from the cancer-causing virus. And studies also suggest that spacing the two doses a year apart is at least as effective, if not more effective than giving them more closely together - something that could also make it easier to get kids fully vaccinated. Older teens who have [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2016-10-20T11:10:26-07:00October, 2016|Oral Cancer News|

Mouth, throat cancers caused by HPV on the rise, especially among Canadian men

Source: www.ctvnews.ca Author: Sonja Puzic, CTVNews.ca Staff Mouth and throat cancers caused by the human papilloma virus have been rising steadily over the past two decades, with a “dramatic” increase among Canadian men, according to a new report from the Canadian Cancer Society. The special report on HPV-associated cancers, released Wednesday as part of the 2016 Canadian Cancer Statistics breakdown, says the rate of mouth and throat cancers in men is poised to surpass the rate of cervical cancer diagnoses in women. Researchers and doctors have known for decades that certain strains of HPV – the most commonly sexually transmitted disease in Canada and the world -- cause cervical cancer. But the latest Canadian cancer statistics show that only 35 per cent of HPV cancers are cervical, and that about 33 per cent of HPV cancers occur in males. The latest data show that about one-third of all HPV cancers in Canada are found in the mouth and throat. Between 1992 and 2012, the incidence of HPV-related mouth and throat cancers increased 56 per cent in males and 17 per cent in females. In 1992, the age-standardized incidence rate (or ASIR) of those cancers was 4.1 per 100,000 Canadian males. In 2012, it was 6.4 per 100,000 males. In females, the rate was 1.2 in 1992 and 1.4 in 2012. ‘I thought I was done’ Three years ago, Dan Antoniuk noticed a lump on his neck and initially thought that it was just a swollen gland. But when the Edmonton [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2016-10-19T09:25:21-07:00October, 2016|Oral Cancer News|

Despite medical backing, HPV vaccine rates remain low amid sexual and moral controversy

Source: www.omaha.com Author: Rick Ruggles, World-Herald staff writer The HPV vaccine can reduce the rates of certain cancers, including many cervical and oral cancers, physicians and medical organizations say. But opposition by some individuals is strong, and HPV vaccination rates remain low when compared with other kinds of vaccinations recommended for adolescents. Because the human papillomavirus is sexually transmitted and seventh grade is considered the ideal time to receive the three-dose vaccine regimen, the issue is rife with sexual and moral implications. Perhaps more potent today, though, are Internet horror stories and concerns about side effects. A World-Herald Facebook request for views on the HPV vaccine generated far more negatives than positives. “NO NO & NO!! There is NO reason for this vaccine,” one wrote. Another called it a “deadly shot.” Two Omaha mothers who were interviewed expressed their belief that it’s wise to have children vaccinated, and said their kids suffered no side effects. But an Iowa man described health problems suffered by his daughter, and he and an Ohio physician believe the girl was injured by the HPV vaccinations. So mediocre are HPV vaccination rates that GSK, the maker of Cervarix, plans to cease distribution of its HPV vaccine in the United States in September. It will continue to supply it in many other nations, such as Great Britain, Germany, France and Mexico. The departure of Cervarix leaves the market to Gardasil, a vaccine produced by Merck. “GSK has made the decision to stop supplying Cervarix ... in [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2016-07-24T12:18:56-07:00July, 2016|Oral Cancer News|

HPV is changing the face of head and neck cancers

Source: www.healio.comAuthor: Christine Cona A drastic increase in the number of HPV-associated oropharynx cancers, particularly those of the tonsil and base of tongue, has captured the attention of head and neck oncologists worldwide. In February, at the Multidisciplinary Head and Neck Cancer Symposium in Chandler, Ariz., Maura Gillison, MD, PhD, professor and Jeg Coughlin Chair of Cancer Research at The Ohio State University in Columbus, presented data that showed that the proportion of all head and neck squamous cell cancers that were of the oropharynx — which are most commonly HPV-positive cancers — increased from 18% in 1973 to 32% in 2005. Maura Gillison, MD, PhD, Jeg Coughlin Chair of Cancer Research at The Ohio State University, said screening for HPV in the head and neck is years behind cervical screening for HPV. In addition, studies from the United States, Europe, Denmark and Australia indicate that HPV-positive patients have a more than twofold increased cancer survival than HPV-negative patients, according to Gillison. With the rising incidence of HPV-related oropharynx cancers, it will soon be the predominant type of cancer in the oral or head and neck region, according to Andy Trotti, MD, director of radiation oncology clinical research, H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center & Research Institute, in Tampa, Fla. “We should be focusing on HPV-related oropharyngeal cancer because it will dominate the field of head and neck cancers for many years,” he said during an interview with HemOnc Today. “It is certainly an important population for which to continue to [...]

Charlotte Parker2016-06-03T11:11:05-07:00June, 2016|Oral Cancer News|

Frontline Cancer: vaccines for HPV near guarantee

Source: www.lajollalight.com Author: Dr. Scott Lippman Dear Scott: “Our son, who is 25, went to the GP yesterday and his doc wasn’t sure about giving the Gardasil I had been bugging him to get. Didn’t you tell me about the benefits of the HPV vaccination?” The note was from a friend. It was personal, but also a topic of wide public interest and one that remains much discussed among cancer researchers and physicians. That’s why I’m answering my friend here. Roughly 12 percent of all human cancers worldwide — more than 1 million cases per year — are caused by viral infections (called oncoviruses) and attributed to a relatively small number of pathogens: human papilloma virus (HPV), hepatitis B virus (HBV), hepatitis C virus (HCV) and Epstein-Barr virus (EBV). Given the emphasis upon other causal factors of cancer, such as genetic mutations or environmental sources, it’s a statistic that’s not well known nor, I would argue, fully appreciated. Human viral oncogenesis is complex, and only a small percentage of the infected individuals develop cancer, but that 12 percent translates into more than 500,000 lives lost each year to virus-caused malignancies. Many of those deaths are preventable because effective vaccines already exist for HPV and HBV. Right now. No future discoveries required. I want to specifically talk about the HPV vaccine. Controversy has constrained its proven effectiveness as a public health tool, but if used as prescribed, the HPV vaccine could essentially eliminate cervical and other HPV-caused cancers. Infection with HPV [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2016-05-26T08:54:23-07:00May, 2016|Oral Cancer News|

ASCO Urges Aggressive Efforts to Increase HPV Vaccination

Source: www.medscape.comAuthor: Zosia Chustecka Human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccines have now been available for 10 years, but despite many medical professional bodies strongly recommending the vaccine, uptake in the United States remains low. Data from a national survey show that about 36% of girls and 14% of boys have received the full schedule of HPV vaccines needed to provide protection (Vaccine. 2013;31:1673-1679). Now the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) has become involved, and in a position statement issued today the organization calls for aggressive efforts to increase uptake of the HPV vaccines to "protect young people from life-threatening cancers." "With safe and effective vaccines readily available, no young person today should have to face the devastating diagnosis of a preventable cancer like cervical cancer. But unless we rapidly increase vaccination rates for boys and girls, many of them will," ASCO President Julie M. Vose, MD, said in a statement. "As oncologists, we see the terrible effects of these cancers first hand, and we have to contribute to improving today's alarmingly low vaccination rates," she added. The new policy statement is published online April 11 in the Journal of Clinical Oncology. The statement notes that HPV vaccination has been previously recommended by many US medical societies, including the American Cancer Society, the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology Committee, the American Dental Association, the American Head and Neck Society, the American Nurses Association, the American Pharmacists Association, the Association of Immunization Managers, the Society for Adolescent Medicine, and the Society of Gynecologic Oncology. [...]

Charlotte Parker2016-04-18T13:12:04-07:00April, 2016|Oral Cancer News|

Call for NZ Government to fund HPV vaccine for boys

Source: www.nzherald.co.nz Author: Martin Johnston Throat-cancer patient Grant Munro paid for his son to be vaccinated against the sexually-transmitted HPV virus because the Government has refused. A 58-year-old scientific expert on viruses, he is backing a campaign by doctors calling for the extension of state funding of the controversial HPV vaccine to boys. Dr Munro, whose cancer was linked to HPV infection, says it is a form of discrimination against males that the Government will only pay for girls to have the vaccine. State medicines agency Pharmac said it had decided not to fund the Gardasil vaccine for boys at present, but it is an option for the future. Its advisory committee assigned a low priority to funding it for all males aged 11-19 and high priority for males 9-26 "who self-identify as having sex with other males". In Australia, the vaccine is government-funded for boys and girls. Gardasil can protect against four strains of HPV - human papilloma virus - that can cause pre-cancerous lesions in the genital tract and mouth, and genital warts. It has been offered to New Zealand girls partly to help reduce cervical cancer. Rates of throat-related cancers have risen sharply since the 1980s and HPV, from oral sex, is thought to be the cause. The actor Michael Douglas was treated for tongue cancer caused by HPV and has spoken of the link between HPV and performing oral sex. After Dr Munro was treated for a tonsil tumour that contained evidence of HPV, he paid [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2016-03-21T06:32:24-07:00March, 2016|Oral Cancer News|

HPV rates down, CDC credits vaccine

Source: www.thv11.com Author: Winnie Wright Researchers say the rates of a cancer causing virus are on the decline thanks to vaccinations. In recent years, vaccinations have become a hot-button issue for parents and the HPV vaccine was no exception. When the CDC began recommending the Human papillomavirus vaccine in 2006, there was a lot of push back from parents. A new study from the CDC says the rates of HPV infection are down 63 percent among girls ages 14 to 19 in the last decade and it credits the HPV vaccination. The vaccine was very controversial when it hit the main stream 10 years ago, and THV11 wanted to know, have those findings changed parents’ minds about the vaccination? “I think there was a great fear that the HPV Vaccine was some sort of signal to adolescent girls that sex was safe. And that there would be an increase in sexual activity and promiscuity, and in fact, that’s not happened. We’ve seen sort of the opposite,” explained Dr. Gary Wheeler, CMO for the Arkansas Department of Health. HPV is most commonly spread through sex. According to the CDC, an estimated 79 million females aged 14-59 are infected with HPV. 14 million new infections are reported in the U.S. each year. When Gardasil, the HPV vaccine, was introduced in 2006, it was a hard pill for many parents to swallow. The vaccine is especially encouraged for children under the age of 12, because it’s most effective the younger you are. Parents [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2016-03-02T14:49:52-07:00March, 2016|Oral Cancer News|