Gardasil

Another call to extend HPV vaccine to boys. Is anyone listening?

Source: www.abc.net.au Author: Lindy Kerin Australian researchers say the human papillomavirus (HPV), which can cause cervical cancer in women, is now a leading cause of oral cancer in men in the Western world. The news has reignited debate over whether the HPV vaccine, which is free for young women, should also be offered to men. A University of Sydney study shows that 60 per cent of throat and tonsil cancers are caused by the virus. "We've tested just over 300 cancers of the oropharynx, and the oropharynx includes the tonsil and the base of tongue and part of the pharangyl wall," said Barbara Rose, an Associate Professor in research at the University of Sydney. "We've tested those for the human papillomavirus type-16 and type-18, which are the major cause of cervical cancer in women. "And we found a sizeable proportion are associated with those types. In fact, probably in excess of 50 per cent now." Those figures from 2001 to 2005 increased to almost 60 per cent in 2006 and 2007. Associate Professor Rose says head and neck cancers have traditionally been associated with older men and related to alcohol and smoking. She says these findings show that has now changed and most are due to the increasing practise of oral sex. "We now know that there's another subset, which is quite distinct biologically, which tends to affect younger people who don't smoke and don't drink, caused by human papillomavirus probably by sexual transmission," she said. "And the types of [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2010-04-19T22:26:55-07:00April, 2010|Oral Cancer News|

Research argues HPV vaccine should extend to boys

Source: RadioAustralia.net Author: Staff It is already available free to young girls in countries like Nauru, Vanuatu, Tuvalu and Cook Islands, but researchers are now saying the human papilloma virus, or HPV, vaccine Gardasil should also be offered to males. It follows new Australian research showing that the virus which causes cervical cancer in women is now a leading cause of oral cancer in men. It says 60 per cent of throat and tonsil cancers are caused by the virus. Presenter: Lindy Kerin Speaker: Barbara Rowe, associate professor in research with University of Sydney; Luke Connolly, director of Australian Centre for Economic Research; Dr Jonathan Clark, head and neck surgeon with Royal Prince Alfred and Liverpool Hospitals, New South Wales LINDY KERIN: For the past two years Australia has been rolling out the cervical cancer vaccine Gardasil to young women. It immunises them against the human papilloma virus, or HPV as it's known. Now there's growing evidence that the same virus is responsible for an increasing number of mouth and throat cancers in men. Barbara Rowe is an associate professor in research at the University of Sydney. BARBARA ROWE: We've tested just over 300 cancers of the oropharynx, and the oropharynx includes the tonsil and the base of tongue and part of the pharangyl wall. And we've tested those for the human papilloma virus type-16 and type-18, which the major cause of cervical cancer in women. And we found a sizeable proportion are associated with those types. In fact probably [...]

Charlotte Parker2010-04-01T17:14:59-07:00April, 2010|Oral Cancer News|

Busting the myth of the cervical cancer vaccine

Source: Temple University Press Editorial by: Gkramer Adina Nack, author of Damaged Goods? Women Living with Incurable Sexually Transmitted Diseases, draws on her expertise as a sexual health researcher to discuss the impact of human papillomavirus (HPV) on men and the need for gender-neutral STD vaccines. When I wrote my book, Damaged Goods? I focused on how living with contagious, stigmatizing, medically incurable (though highly treatable) infections transformed women’s lives – medically, socially and psychologically. I had included a discussion of the Gardasil vaccine, which had received FDA-approval and CDC recommendation for ‘routine’ use in girls and women (ages 9 to 26) back in 2006, and I had articulated some of my concerns about the delayed testing and approval process for ‘male’ Gardasil. A family of viruses, HPV is an ‘equal opportunity infector,’ so why have HPV vaccines not been equally accessible for men as well as women? In a recent interview on Huffington Post, several blog posts of my own, and my new feature article, “Why Men’s Health Is a Feminist Issue” (Ms. Magazine,Winter 2010), I investigate the substantial public health costs that result from HPV vaccines, such as Gardasil, not having been originally developed, tested and approved as gender-neutral vaccines. The narrow and inaccurate marketing of Gardasil as a female-only, “cervical cancer” vaccine has distracted us from public discourse about this family of sexually transmitted viruses that are not only a U.S. epidemic but also a global pandemic. In the U.S., HPV is estimated to affect 75% of adults and certain strains are known [...]

Charlotte Parker2010-03-23T22:33:02-07:00March, 2010|Oral Cancer News|

Oral sex can add to risk of HPV positive cancers

Source: www.time.com Author: Coco Masters Oral sex can get most men's attention. The topic becomes considerably more relevant, however, when coupled with a new study linking the human papillomavirus (HPV) to an increased risk of a kind of oral cancer more often seen in men. The study, which appears in this week's New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM), shows that men and women who reported having six or more oral-sex partners during their lifetime had a nearly ninefold increased risk of developing cancer of the tonsils or at the base of the tongue. Of the 300 study participants, those infected with HPV were also 32 times more likely to develop this type of oral cancer than those who did not have the virus. These findings dwarf the increased risk of developing this so-called oropharyngeal cancer associated with the two major risk factors: smoking (3 times greater) or drinking (2.5 times greater). HPV infection drives cancerous growth, as it is widely understood to do in the cervix. But unlike cervical cancer, this type of oral cancer is more prevalent in men. HPV is ubiquitous. Of the 120 strains isolated from humans — about 40 of which are in the mouth and genital tracts — Merck's recently FDA-approved vaccine, Gardasil, protects against four: HPV-6 and HPV-11, which cause warts; and HPV-16 and HPV-18, which cause about 70% of cervical cancers. Similarly, according to the study, HPV-16 was present in 72 of the 100 cancer patients enrolled in the study. Between 12,000 and [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2010-04-19T22:32:29-07:00March, 2010|Oral Cancer News|

Why men’s health is a feminist issue

Source: www.msmagazine.com Author: Adina Nack Jorge (not his real name) feared his girlfriend would dump him. He’d been diagnosed with genital warts before meeting her, and hadn’t yet told her about his infection. Jorge was being careful—no skin-to-skin sexual contact—but the disclosure was looming. So he’d done some research and learned what caused genital warts. Armed with that knowledge, he hoped that his girlfriend wouldn’t reject him, especially since he knew she could be protected from contracting warts “because of the Gardasil vaccine.” It never occurred to Jorge that Gardasil, made by the pharmaceutical company Merck, could also have protected him. But that’s probably because it was only last October that the Food and Drug Administration approved a “male” Gardasil for preventing genital warts. And the FDA has yet to put its stamp on another promising usage of the vaccine for men: preventing cancer, especially highly prevalent oral cancers. Since Gardasil was FDA-approved in 2006, it has received a huge marketing push for preventing cervical cancer in women. It has come into frequent—if sometimes controversial—use for females 9 to 26 years old because it’s designed to guard them, before they ever have sex, against contracting a virus that has been linked to cervical cancer. That virus is HPV, human papillomavirus, which causes one-third of all sexually transmitted infections (STIs) in the U.S. Gardasil offers protection against four of the 30 to 40 types of sexually transmissible HPV. While it’s fear of cervical cancer that have motivated young women to get [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2010-03-09T21:48:41-07:00March, 2010|Oral Cancer News|

New vaccine against HPV approved in Canada

Source: www.ctv.ca Author: staff Canadian women have a choice of two vaccines against HPV, the family of viruses that can cause cervical cancer, now that Health Canada has approved GlaxoSmithKline's vaccine, Cervarix. The vaccine, which is expected to be available by the end of the month, will compete against Gardasil, a product of Merck Canada, which has been on the Canadian market since 2006. Cervarix has been available in Europe since 2007, and was approved in the U.S. this past fall. Health Canada said its approval was based on a review of clinical trials on nearly 30,000 women. The competing vaccines will be similarly priced, at about $400. Each vaccine requires three doses and are meant for girls and women aged 10 to 25, ideally before they become sexually active. While there are differences between the two vaccines, each offers good protection against infection with the most dangerous strains of HPV, the Society of Gynecologic Oncology of Canada (GOC) said in a statement Tuesday. The GOC added that each vaccine has had an excellent safety profile both in pre-market testing and after extensive use worldwide. Cervarix is designed to protect against two human papillomavirus strains: HPV 16 and 18. Those strains are responsible for more than 70 per cent of cases of cervical cancer. It also offers some protection against three other cancer-causing strains HPV 31, 33 and 45. Between them, the four strains account for more than 80 per cent of cervical cancer cases. Gardasil also prevents infection with [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2010-02-11T09:55:32-07:00February, 2010|Oral Cancer News|

Two doctors explain their support of the Gardasil vaccine

Source: www.huffingtonpost.com Author: Marcia G. Yerman As parents contemplate whether or not they should have the Gardasil vaccine administered to their daughters, one of the first places that they turn is to their doctors. In this segment, I posed questions to two doctors supporting the vaccine. Dr. Margaret Lewin, M.D., F.A.C.P., is the Medical Director of Cinergy Health, an insurance benefits provider. She advises the board on patient related issues and public health concerns. Lewin is board-certified in Internal Medicine, Hematology, and Medical Oncology. Lewin is affiliated with New York Presbyterian Hospital and the Hospital for Special Surgery. Dr. Alan Gibstein, M.D., F.A.C.S., F.A.C.O.G., is a Clinical Assistant Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology at NYU School of Medicine. He is board-certified in Obstetrics and Gynecology, and is affiliated with North Shore University Hospital. He was president of the LIJMC medical staff from 1982-9183. In addition to his work as an attending gynecologist, he has been actively involved in medical and residency teaching. On why they supported the vaccine: Dr. Lewin wrote: "The evidence clearly shows that the quadrivalent HPV vaccine prevents cervical intraepithelial neoplasia caused by 70% of known HPV subtypes as well as preventing genital warts - both of which are highly contagious (even without sexual penetration), cause significant distress, substantial cost, and cannot reliably be permanently eliminated. There are published reports of oral cancer caused by the HPV virus. Oral cancers and their treatment are devastating, and the ability to avoid HPV-related oral cancers strongly increases my support [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2010-01-09T12:13:34-07:00January, 2010|Oral Cancer News|

Vaccines plus screening could end cervical cancer

Source: www.cancernetwork.com Author: Fram Lowry Out with the old and in with the new is a commonly followed maxim in medicine given the rapid pace of developments in diagnosis and treatment. Human papillomavirus vaccines are relative newcomers to the cervical cancer armamentarium, but they cannot be relied on to do the job on their own; screening is still a must. Richard B. Roden, PhD, from Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, and Carlos L. Santos, MD, from the Instituto Nacional de Enfermedades Neoplasicas in Lima, Peru, discussed the merits and drawbacks of HPV vaccines and standard screening during a session on female malignancies at ASCO 2009 in Orlando Long-term protection The widespread vaccination of adolescents against HPV will be critical to the eradication of cervical cancer, said Dr. Roden, an associate professor in the department of pathology. “HPV virus-like particle [VLP] vaccines are very effective in preventing genital HPV infection and neoplastic disease,” he explained. “Solid protection has been observed for more than six years after vaccination, suggesting vaccine protection is likely to be long-term, although the need for a booster is not out of the question.” To date, two HPV vaccines are FDA-approved: Gardasil from Merck, produced in yeast, and Cervarix from GlaxoSmithKline, produced in insect cells. In October 2009, Gardasil was approved by the FDA for use in boys and men (aged 9-26) for the prevention of genital warts caused by HPV-6 and HPV-11. Both vaccines target HPV-16 and HPV-18, the two most common oncogenic HPV types. Gardasil also [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2009-12-30T13:16:35-07:00December, 2009|Oral Cancer News|

Should your son get the HPV vaccine?

Source: www.nbc-2.com Author: staff TAMPA: David Hastings is back to helping his wife Jo at their Cuban restaurant outside Saint Petersburg. He's grateful to be here after a very close call. "One morning I was shaving and I noticed this side of my neck was swollen," Hastings explained. The diagnosis: stage four oral cancer. Until then, David was a healthy non-smoker who exercised regularly. "Picture a male drinking and smoking everyday for years and years. That's who gets my cancer. I kept saying people, that's not me." It turns out David's cancer was caused by the human papillomavirus or HPV, a virus he didn't even know he carried. Nancy: "So David's case is not rare?" Dr. Anna Giuliano: "No! Not at all!" From her office at the Moffit Cancer Center in Tampa, Dr. Anna Giuliano is leading an international study on HPV in men. Right now the virus is best known for causing cervical cancer in women. But that is about to change. "Cervical cancer is going down and HPV related head and neck cancer is going up," she explained. Dr. Giuliano says every year between 6 and 8 thousand head and neck cancers in men are HPV-related. "Now we have very definitive evidence that HPV causes cancer in men; the most important being head and neck cancers, penile cancer and anal cancer," she told NBC2. In October, the FDA approved the use of the HPV vaccine Gardasil in males ages 9-26. But Dr. Giuliano worries misinformation will keep young [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2009-11-28T07:19:04-07:00November, 2009|Oral Cancer News|

After being diagnosed, Zenk Pinter is an oral cancer spokesperson

Source: www.acorn-online.com Author: Susan Wolf Colleen Zenk Pinter of Redding, an actor who stars as Barbara Ryan on As the World Turns, has partnered with the Oral Cancer Foundation, Yale New-Haven Hospital and Roswell Park Cancer Institute to be a spokesperson for oral cancer. Ms. Pinter was diagnosed with oral cancer in March 2007 and is now cancer-free. “I had no risk factors for this ‘old man’s cancer,’ she said, but her doctors said hers was probably due to human papilloma virus (HPV), which is most often associated with cervical cancer. HPV is the most common sexually transmitted disease in the country, and it is estimated that about 70% of American men and women will be infected at some point in their lives. According to Ms. Zenk Pinter, a growing number of women are being diagnosed with oral cancer, from one in 10 to now a 50-50 split. “The difference is HPV,” she said. She is a proponent of the Gardasil® vaccine against HPV for both girls and boys. It doesn’t help if only half of the population (girls) is being vaccinated. Why boys? “Simple. HPV is sexually transmitted.” Physicians and researchers advocate that the vaccine be given to both sexes, Ms. Zenk Pinter said. During her speech at New York University School of Dentistry graduation, where she received the 2009 Harry S. Strusser Memorial Award for Public Service and Outstanding Contributions to Public Health, Ms. Zenk Pinter implored the graduating doctors and surgeons to thoroughly check their patients for [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2009-11-28T07:11:44-07:00November, 2009|OCF In The News, Oral Cancer News|