vaccination – Page 4 – 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|

Oral cancer less likely in women who have more sex; but not the same for men

Source: www.parentherald.com Author: Diane Ting Having more sex partners reduces the chance of oral cancer for women. Unfortunately, men are more likely to become infected as the number of oral sex partners increases. A study suggests that women who have more vaginal sex partners appear to have a lower risk of oral human papillomavirus (HPV) infections. The information was released during the annual conference of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Throat and mouth cancer are linked to HPV, which is one of the most prevalent sexually transmitted diseases. HPV is rather common, as most people are treated of the virus within two years. According to the study published by the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), oral sex may increase the risk of head and neck cancer by 22 percent. In the last 20 years, the number of oral cancer patients has risen to 225 percent. Oral cancer is typically linked to lifestyle causes such as heavy drinking and smoking, according to Mirror. Two in three sufferers of oral cancer were men, which made experts question the imbalance. HPV is the same cancer that causes cervical cancer in women. Research states that because women are first exposed to HPV vaginally, they may develop an immune response that prevents them from getting the infection. Unfortunately, research suggests that this may not be the same for men as they are found twice more likely to develop oral cancer. As the number of oral sex partners increase, the risk of [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2016-02-18T14:27:17-07:00February, 2016|Oral Cancer News|

Cancer Centers urge increase in HPV vaccinations

Source: www.wsj.com Author: Ron Winslow The top cancer centers in the U.S. jointly called for an increase in vaccination against the human papilloma virus, or HPV, saying low uptake of the three-shot regimens amounts to a “public health threat” and a major missed opportunity to prevent a variety of potentially lethal malignancies. In a statement issued Wednesday, all 69 of the nation’s National Cancer Institute-designated centers urged parents and health-care providers to “protect the health of our children” by taking steps to have all boys and girls complete the three-dose vaccination by their 13th birthdays, as recommended by federal guidelines, or as soon as possible in children between 13 and 17 years old. Currently, just 40% of girls and 21% of boys in the U.S. have received the vaccine, according to a report last year by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Healthy People 2020 initiative has set the goal for HPV vaccination for both boys and girls at 80%. The first HPV vaccine, Merck & Co.’s Gardasil, was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in 2006. A second version of Gardasil and GlaxoSmithKline PLC’s Cervarix are now on the market. Neither company was involved in development of the cancer centers’ statement, those involved in the effort said. The CDC estimates that 79 million Americans are infected with HPV, a sexually transmitted virus that causes 14 million new infections each year. While the body’s immune system fights off [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2016-01-27T09:29:37-07:00January, 2016|Oral Cancer News|

HPV vaccines: Research on safety, racial disparities in vaccination rates and male participation

Source: journalistsresource.us1.list-manage.com Author: staff Since it became available in the United States in 2006, the Human Papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine has been a source of debate, with proponents lauding it as a substantial gain in the fight against cancer, and opponents concerned with its implications for sexual activity among youth. With the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s recent approval of Gardasil-9 — a vaccine that protects against nine of the most common strains of HPV that account for approximately 90 percent of cervical, vulvar, vaginal and anal cancers — there is both a renewed interest and concern that calls for a nuanced and comprehensive review of the science. HPV is the most common sexually transmitted infection in the United States, with nearly all sexually active men and women believed to contract at least one form of it during their lifetime. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), an estimated 79 million Americans have HPV, and about 14 million become newly infected annually. While most infections clear the body within two years, some can persist and result in genital warts, cervical cancer or other types of cancers in men and women. Of the many HPV strains that exist, HPV types 16 and 18 have been identified as high risk, accounting for about 70 percent of all cervical cancer, as well as a large proportion of other HPV-related cancers. While cervical cancer was previously a leading cause of death among women in the U.S., death rates declined substantially after [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2016-01-26T15:17:35-07:00January, 2016|Oral Cancer News|

Throat and tongue cancers linked to sexually transmitted virus on the rise

Source: www.theage.com.au Author: Julia Medew The sexual revolution is producing a new wave of throat and tongue cancers among middle-aged people, who are falling victim to a rare side effect of the "common cold of sexually transmitted infections". A growing number of Australians with oropharyngeal cancer are testing positive to the human papillomavirus (HPV), suggesting it has caused their disease rather than smoking or heavy drinking - factors responsible for many head and neck cancers in the past. Oropharyngeal cancer is usually found in the back third of the tongue or the tonsils. In 2014, about 125 Victorians were diagnosed with it. Most were men. An Australian study of 515 patients diagnosed with the condition between 1987 and 2010 found that the proportion of people with an HPV-related diagnosis increased from 20 per cent between 1987 and 1995 to 64 per cent between 2006 and 2010. Over the same period, the proportion of people diagnosed with throat cancer who had never smoked increased from 19 per cent to 34 per cent, suggesting HPV may overtake smoking and drinking as a cause of the cancer in future. American doctors say more oral sex following the sexual revolution of the 1960s probably spread HPV to more people's mouths and throats. Actor Michael Douglas said he believed oral sex was to blame for his HPV-related throat cancer in 2013. But Dr Matthew Magarey, an ear nose and throat surgeon at Epworth and Peter MacCallum hospitals in Melbourne, said while HPV-related throat cancers were [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2015-10-13T08:15:23-07:00October, 2015|Oral Cancer News|

Three things you might not know about HPV

Source: www.huffingtonpost.ca Author: Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre April 26 to May 2 is National Immunization Awareness week in Canada. One immunization known for raising a lot of questions is the Human Papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination, provided free of charge in Ontario to girls in grades 8-12, and following provincial schedules across the country. While there is lots of information online, at school and at the doctor's office about HPV, there is still a lot of confusion about what it may mean for your loved ones. Dr. Nancy Durand, gynecologist at Sunnybrook, explains three little-known facts about HPV. 1) HPV causes cancer in men, too When Michael Douglas candidly revealed his oral cancer was caused by HPV, many people expressed surprise. Even though HPV has traditionally been thought of as a disease that affects women and mainly causes cervical cancer, men are actually at higher risk of being diagnosed with certain types of HPV-positive cancers than women. "It's not well understood why men are at higher risk for HPV-positive oral cancer, but it does point out that vaccination in men is even more important than we may have previously thought," says Dr. Durand. Physicians are learning more and more that HPV can also cause other cancers in both women and men, such as anal cancers and head & neck cancers (cancers of the base of the tongue, tonsils and soft palate). 2) Not all HPV infections lead to cancer You've probably read some of the (slightly scary) statistics about HPV: Three in [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2015-04-29T13:19:58-07:00April, 2015|Oral Cancer News|

HPV Related Cancers Increase in Men

Source: scientificamerican.comAuthor: Robin Lloyd A vaccine to protect against the most dangerous strains of human papillomavirus (HPV), which cause almost all cervical cancers, as well as many cases of other cancers and genital warts in both sexes, won the approval of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration nearly nine years ago. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention now recommends that all boys and girls aged 11 or 12 receive the shots. Vaccination campaigns, aimed largely at girls and women, have fallen short of expectations. By 2013 just over half of U.S. females aged 13 to 17 had received at least one dose of either the Gardasil or Cervarix vaccine. For males, that figure was a disappointing 35 percent. Now head and neck cancers associated with the virus are on the rise, leading some experts to recommend that a gender-neutral or male-centric approach might be more effective. HPV is the most prevalent sexually transmitted disease in the U.S. and worldwide, infecting just about all men and women at some point in their lives. Although most people clear the virus naturally, persistent infections with some strains can lead to cancer—usually cervical or oropharyngeal (affecting the back of the throat, tonsils and back of the tongue). HPV-associated cancers make up 3.3 percent of all cancer cases among women and 2 percent of all such cases among men annually in the latest available figures, yet the incidence of virally instigated oropharyngeal and anal cancers is increasing. Ohio State University medical oncologist and epidemiologist Maura [...]

Charlotte Parker2015-02-18T10:56:24-07:00February, 2015|Oral Cancer News|

HPV vaccination does not increase promiscuity among adolescents: It’s a vaccine against sexually transmitted cancer

Source: reason.com Author: Ronald Bailey On February 3, 2015, libertarian radio host Andrew Wilkow invited me to discuss the risks and benefits of vaccination. We disagreed: Mr. Wilkow is considerably more worried about the risks than is warranted by the scientific evidence. During the segment, Mr. Wilkow stated that he did not plan to have his two-year old daughter vaccinated against the human papilloma virus (HPV). Infection with human papilloma virus is responsible for about 11,967 new cases of HPV-associated cervical cancer and for about 2,370 new cases of HPV-associated oropharyngeal cancers in women and nearly 9,356 new cases in men each year in the United States. During the radio segment, I mentioned that a male friend had recently died of HPV-associated head-and-neck cancer. I failed to mention that another male friend is being treated for that cancer now. Mr. Wilkow argued that since the vaccine immunizes against a sexually transmitted disease that he saw no reason to have his daughter vaccinated against it. The series of three HPV injections is recommended to start after age 9, so Mr. Wilkow has time to reconsider. Mr. Wilkow is, however, not alone in his opposition to HPV vaccination. A 2014 study in Clinical Pediatrics reported the results of a survey of parents' actions regarding HPV vaccination. The researchers found: A significantly higher proportion of parents of girls who were non-Hispanic white, lived in households with higher incomes, and had mothers with higher education levels, delayed and/or refused vaccination. Another of the early [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2015-02-11T08:16:00-07:00February, 2015|Oral Cancer News|

Oral cancer on rise in young people

Source: www.wwltv.com Author: Jaclyn Kelley Alex Dupuy is like most 15-year-old boys, except for one very special talent. Last year he stole the headlines during a bowling tournament for bowling a perfect 300. But that high wouldn't last long. "My son came to us one day and said I have an ulcer, and we thought, OK, let's gargle with some salt water and we kept checking on it and it never went away," said Nancy Dupuy, Alex's mother. When the sore on Alex's tongue never cleared up, but instead started growing, his mother became concerned and took him to see the doctor. "It has grown so rapidly that I would really like to have the tumor or whatever it was removed," she said. Alex was taken to Children's Hospital for surgery, and doctors removed the sore and 30 percent of his tongue. Three days later test results came back confirming the Dupuy's worst fears: It was cancer. "The word aggressive stuck out to me," Nancy Dupuy said. "The type of cancer that my son presented with was an adult cancer. It's not usually diagnosed in young children." The doctors said Alex had a rapid form of squamous cell carcinoma of the tongue. Four days later he and his parents were on a plane to MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston. Through it all, Alex managed to stay positive. "I felt nervous, I felt scared and I told myself, I'll be alright," Alex said. In Houston Alex would have yet another [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2014-12-31T06:23:34-07:00December, 2014|Oral Cancer News|

Three shots that could stop cancer

Source: tucson.com Author: Meredith Wadman Not so long ago, when my sons still had smooth cheeks and children's voices, I had them vaccinated against human papillomavirus, the most common sexually transmitted disease. It was late 2011, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had just recommended that boys join girls in being vaccinated at age 11 or 12. I was certainly receptive: HPV, as it's commonly called, causes cervical cancer, cancer of the tonsils, cancer of the back of the tongue and, less often, cancers of the vulva, vagina, anus and penis. It seemed important to ensure that my kids were protected. Yet numbers released last month by the CDC show that my sons, now 14 and 15, are among a small minority of adolescent males who have been vaccinated. In 2013, just 14 percent of American boys ages 13 to 17 had received all three recommended doses of the HPV vaccine. (The CDC also recommends "catch-up" vaccination for males up to age 21.) Not that parents are rushing to have their girls vaccinated either, even though the CDC first recommended the vaccine for prepubescent girls in 2007 and virtually all insurers pay for it. In 2013, fewer than 38 percent of American girls between 13 and 17 had received the full three-dose course. It is heartbreaking to watch a safe, effective vaccine go unused. Consider this: The CDC estimates that increasing the vaccination rate of American girls to 80 percent would prevent 53,000 cervical cancers during the lifetimes [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2014-08-26T06:24:27-07:00August, 2014|Oral Cancer News|