President’s panel calls for more girls, boys to get HPV vaccine

Author: Government news release Source: consumer.healthday.com Too few American girls and boys are getting vaccinated against the cancer-causing human papillomavirus (HPV), the President's Cancer Panel reported Monday. HPV is linked to cervical cancer as well as penis, rectal and oral cancers. One in four adults in the United States is infected with at least one type of HPV. Increasing HPV vaccination rates could prevent a large number of cancer cases and save many lives, the panel said. "Today, there are two safe, effective, approved vaccines that prevent infection by the two most prevalent cancer-causing types, yet vaccination rates are far too low," Barbara Rimer, chair of the President's Cancer Panel, said in a panel news release. "We are confident that if HPV vaccination for girls and boys is made a public health priority, hundreds of thousands will be protected from these HPV-associated diseases and cancers over their lifetimes," she added. Currently, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is recommending that girls aged 11 and 12 receive either the Cervarix or Gardasil vaccines, and Gardasil is recommended for boys of similar age. In 2012, only a third of girls aged 13 to 17 got all three recommended doses of HPV vaccine, CDC data shows. That's much lower than the federal government's goal of having 80 percent of girls aged 13 to 15 fully vaccinated against HPV by 2020, the report said. The picture is even more disappointing for boys. Less than 7 percent of males aged 13 to 17 [...]

2014-02-11T13:11:27-07:00February, 2014|Oral Cancer News|

Concerned About HPV-Related Cancer Rise, Researchers Advocate Boosting HPV Vaccination Rates

By: Anna AzvolinskySource: JNCI Journal of the National Cancer Institute Advance AccessPublished:  August 29, 2013  Deaths from the major cancers—lung, colorectal, breast, and prostate—continue to decline, a trend that started in the early 1990s. Cancer incidence is also declining, if slightly, for both sexes. That’s the good news from the annual Report to the Nation on the Status of Cancer, a joint research effort by the American Cancer Society, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the National Cancer Institute, and the North American Association of Central Cancer Registries (J Natl. Cancer Inst. 2013;105:175–201). But the study also shows an uptick in rates of anal and oropharyngeal cancer, a type of head and neck cancer related to infection with the human papillomavirus (HPV), in the 10-year period ending in 2009. Cancer of the oropharynx increased among white men and women (3.9% and 1.7%, respectively). Anal cancer also increased in both sexes, with the greatest increase among black men (5.6%) and white women (3.7%). Rates of vulvar cancer, another HPV-related cancer, also increased among women despite continued lower rates of cervical cancer. Researchers attribute this rise in HPV related cancers to more HPV infections. “We think that increases in oral–genital sexual practices and increasing number of sexual partners that occurred some 30 years ago as part of the sexual revolution may be implicated in part of the increase in cancer rates we are seeing today,” said Edgar P. Simard, Ph.D., M.P.H., senior epidemiologist of surveillance research. Although rates of HPV infection from three decades ago were not available in the joint report, a trend exists of men and women now in their 50s and 60s having the highest rates of both oropharyngeal and anal cancers. To directly relate HPV infection [...]

2013-09-03T14:10:57-07:00September, 2013|Oral Cancer News|

Vaccination Not Found To Increase Risk Of Guillain-Barre Syndrome

Source: Medical News TodayArticle Date: 26 Jun 2013 - 0:00 PDT  Patients are not at increased risk of Guillain-Barre syndrome in the six-week period after vaccination with any vaccine, including influenza, according to a Kaiser Permanente study published in Clinical Infectious Diseases. The retrospective study by researchers at the Kaiser Permanente Vaccine Study Center spanned 13 years and was controlled for seasonality. "If there is a risk of Guillain-Barré syndrome following any vaccine, including influenza vaccines, it is extremely low," said Roger Baxter, MD, co-director of the Kaiser Permanente Vaccine Study Center. During the 13-year period (1994-2006), 415 confirmed cases of Guillain-Barré syndrome were observed. Within this group, the researchers found only 25 patients had received any vaccine in the six weeks prior to the onset of the disease. The study also found that 277 patients had a respiratory or gastrointestinal illness in the 90 days preceding the onset. Guillain-Barré syndrome is an acute disease thought to be an autoimmune disorder resulting in destruction of a nerve's myelin sheath and peripheral nerves. In many cases, the syndrome is temporally associated with an infectious disease; most published case series report that approximately two-thirds of all cases are preceded within three months by a gastrointestinal or respiratory infection. Guillain-Barré syndrome had been linked to the influenza vaccine in a 1976 study, but not clearly since. There have been reports of an association with other vaccines, which have not been confirmed. Previous studies of Guillain-Barré syndrome as a possible adverse event related to [...]

2013-07-05T10:12:54-07:00July, 2013|Oral Cancer News|

Reasons for Not Vaccinating Adolescents: National Immunization Survey of Teens, 2008–2010

Source: PediatricsAuthors: Paul M. Darden, MD, David M. Thompson, PhD, James R. Roberts, MD, MPH, Jessica J. Hale, MSa, Charlene Pope, PhD, MPH, RN, Monique Naifeh, MD, MPHa, and Robert M. Jacobson, MDPublished Online: March 18, 2013    Abstract OBJECTIVE: To determine the reasons adolescents are not vaccinated for specific vaccines and how these reasons have changed over time. METHODS: We analyzed the 2008–2010 National Immunization Survey of Teens examining reasons parents do not have their teens immunized. Parents whose teens were not up to date (Not-UTD) for Tdap/Td and MCV4 were asked the main reason they were not vaccinated. Parents of female teens Not-UTD for human papillomavirus vaccine (HPV) were asked their intent to give HPV, and those unlikely to get HPV were asked the main reason why not. RESULTS: The most frequent reasons for not vaccinating were the same for Tdap/Td and MCV4, including “Not recommended” and “Not needed or not necessary.” For HPV, the most frequent reasons included those for the other vaccines as well as 4 others, including “Not sexually active” and “Safety concerns/Side effects.” “Safety concerns/Side effects” increased from 4.5% in 2008 to 7.7% in 2009 to 16.4% in 2010 and, in 2010, approaching the most common reason “Not Needed or Not Necessary” at 17.4% (95% CI: 15.7–19.1). Although parents report that health care professionals increasingly recommend all vaccines, including HPV, the intent to not vaccinate for HPV increased from 39.8% in 2008 to 43.9% in 2010 (OR for trend 1.08, 95% CI: 1.04–1.13). CONCLUSIONS: Despite doctors increasingly recommending adolescent vaccines, parents [...]

2013-06-20T10:42:12-07:00June, 2013|Oral Cancer News|

Throat Cancer and HPV – the researcher

6 February, 2013 12:26PM AEDT By Carol Duncan (ABC Local) Source: abc.net.au   Assoc Prof Karen Canfell is a researcher with the Lowy Cancer Research Centre at the University of NSW. HPV is her area of expertise. What does she want us to know about HPV and the vaccination program? CAROL DUNCAN: Karen, your area of expertise is human papilloma virus and I understand there's not just one but 100 or more? ASSOC PROF KAREN CANFELL: That's right, there's a large number of types HPV that have been implicated in cancer but it's really two of those types that are responsible for the vast majority of cancers, HPV 16 & 18 and those types are the ones that are included in the vaccine that is now available to us. CAROL DUNCAN: I guess this is the point of this series this week is that we now have another cancer which is, in essence, preventable. ASSOC PROF KAREN CANFELL: Yes, I think what we're seeing with HPV is an incredible success story in cancer prevention. This started with the vaccination of girls and women in Australia. Because HPV has a very important role in cervical cancer and, in fact HPV is responsible for virtually all cervical cancers, the types we just mentioned (types 16 & 18) are responsible for about 70% of those cancers. Five years ago, in 2007, we had the implementation of the National HPV Vaccination Program in girls and women in Australia and that's really had incredible effects [...]

2013-02-06T13:02:21-07:00February, 2013|Oral Cancer News|

HPV-related cancers on the rise

Source: www.drbicuspid.com Author: Drbicuspid staff The rising incidence of cancers associated with human papillomavirus (HPV) shows a need to increase HPV vaccination coverage levels, according to a report in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute (January 7, 2013). Despite the decline in cancer death rates in the U.S., the rate of HPV-associated cancers has increased, the report noted. The American Cancer Society (ACS), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the National Cancer Institute, and the North American Association of Central Cancer Registries annually provide updates on trends in cancer incidence and death rates in the U.S. This year's report highlighted trends in incidence rates for HPV-associated cancers and HPV vaccination coverage levels. Two HPV vaccines (bivalent and quadrivalent) have been shown to protect against most cervical cancers in women and one vaccine (quadrivalent) also protects against genital warts and cancers of the anus, vagina, and vulva. However, the report had no data available on the vaccine's efficacy for preventing HPV-associated cancers of the oropharynx. To assess trends in HPV-associated cancer incidence rates and HPV vaccination coverage levels, ACS researchers looked at trends in age-standardized incidence and death rates for all cancers combined and for the leading cancers among men and women. They also analyzed HPV vaccination coverage levels during 2008 and 2010. Nationally, 32% of females ages 13 to 17 years received three doses of the HPV vaccine in 2010, showing the necessity for increased efforts to increase HPV vaccination coverage, the report said. HPV vaccination efforts should [...]

1 of 6 cancer deaths worldwide caused by preventable infections

Source: Los Angeles Times One in every six cancer deaths worldwide is caused by preventable infections, a total of 1.5 million deaths yearly that could be halted by widespread vaccination programs, researchers reported Wednesday. Since 1990, that number has grown by about half a million, suggesting that vaccination programs are losing ground in the battle rather than gaining it.  The vast majority of the cases are caused by three viruses and a bacterium, which are the leading causes of gastric, liver and cervical cancers. Cervical cancers account for about half of the infection-related cancers in women, while liver and gastric cancers account for about 80% of those in men. The causes of many cancers are largely unknown, but genetics and poor luck play big roles. The World Health Organization estimated in 2004 that nine lifestyle and environmental factors -- smoking being a particularly large one -- account for as many as 35% of the 12.7 million cancers that occur each year, about twice the proportion now linked to infections. Cervical cancers are caused primarily by the human papilloma virus (HPV), as are anal and penile tumors. Stomach cancers are caused by the bacterium Helicobacter pylori. The hepatitis B and hepatitis C viruses cause liver cancer.  All such infections are readily preventable by vaccination. Other less common agents include the Epstein-Barr virus, which causes nasopharynx tumors and Hodgkin's lymphoma; human herpes virus type 8, which causes Kaposi's sarcoma, usually in conjunction with HIV; and the parasite Schistosoma haematobium, which causes bladder [...]

2012-05-09T13:43:12-07:00May, 2012|Oral Cancer News|

Vaccination rates higher in states requiring them in middle school

Source: LA Times States that require vaccination for pertussis, meningitis and tetanus for admission to middle school have a higher vaccination rate than states that do not, but the rate is not nearly as high as one might expect from such a requirement, researchers reported Monday. States that required only that educational materials be sent home for those vaccines and the human papilloma virus (HPV) vaccine showed no improvement in vaccination rates. Vaccines for tetanus and pertussis are typically given during childhood, but the effects can diminish over time and a booster shot is recommended in early adolescence. The meningitis and HPV vaccines typically are given in adolescence. Concern has been spreading about low vaccination rates because of recent outbreaks of pertussis, commonly called whooping cough, in California and Washington.  Some parents refuse to have their children vaccinated because of groundless fears about vaccine side effects -- particularly the now-refuted link to autism -- but others simply find that it is easier to express "philosophical opposition" to the vaccines rather than take their children for the shots. But these unvaccinated children serve as a natural reservoir for the diseases, enhancing their spread, particularly to those who are too old or immune-impaired to receive the vaccines themselves. Thirty-two states required middle school vaccination with either the tetanus/diptheria (Td) vaccine or the tetanus/diptheria/acellular pertussis (TdaP) vaccine when the survey was performed in 2008-09. Fourteen of those specifically required the TdaP vaccine. None required that educational materials about those vaccines be sent home. [...]

2012-05-08T16:49:50-07:00May, 2012|Oral Cancer News|

Viruses recruited as killers of tumors

Source: nytimes.com Author: Rachel Nuwer In 1951, a 4-year-old boy with leukemia contracted chickenpox. His liver and spleen, swollen by the cancer, soon returned to normal, and his elevated blood cell count fell to that of a healthy child. His doctors at the Laboratory of Experimental Oncology in San Francisco were thrilled by his sudden remission, but the blessing was short-lived. After one month, his leukemia returned and progressed rapidly until the child’s death. In the early 1900s, not much could be done for cancer patients. Unless surgeons could excise a tumor, the disease typically spelled a swift and inevitable end. But in dozens of published cases over the years, doctors noticed a peculiar trend: Struggling cancer patients sometimes enjoyed a brief reprieve from their malignancies when they caught a viral infection. It was not a coincidence. Common viruses sometimes attack tumor cells, researchers discovered. For decades, they tried to harness this phenomenon, to transform it into a cancer treatment. Now, after a long string of failures, they are nearing success with viruses engineered to kill cancer. “It’s a very exciting time,” said Dr. Robert Martuza, chief neurosurgeon at the Massachusetts General Hospital and professor of neuroscience at Harvard Medical School. “I think it will work out in some tumor, with some virus.” Candidates are already in advanced trials, he noted. Cancer cells are able to replicate wildly, but there’s a trade-off: They cannot ward off infection as effectively as healthy cells. So scientists have been looking for ways to [...]

Canadian provinces weighing HPV vaccination of boys

Source: www.cmaj.ca/ Author: Laura Eggertson Provinces weighing the merits of implementing the National Advisory Committee on Immunization's recommendation to offer human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine to boys and men aged 9–26 are facing a tricky trade-off between benefits and costs. “I think the benefits are there, but the costs are high,” which is a crucial issue for publicly funded programs, says Dr. Monika Naus, medical director of immunization programs and vaccine-preventable diseases for the British Columbia Centre for Disease Control. The National Advisory Committee on Immunization last month recommended extending the human papillomavirus vaccine to boys and men aged 9 to 26 “for the prevention of anal intraepithelial neoplasia (AIN) grades 1, 2, and 3, anal cancer, and anogenital warts”. The move followed on the heels of an October 2011 recommendation from United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advisory panel recommendation that HPV vaccine be given to boys aged 11–12 to ward off genital warts, anal cancer and “possibly” head and neck cancer. In deciding whether to proceed, the provinces should note that “the public health and economic burden of AGWs [anogenital warts] in Canada is considerable, particularly among men whose incidence rates and incidence rate ratios compared to females have been increasing in recent years,” the committee stated. The committee’s report also noted that the number of annual cases (and average annual incidence per 100 000) of penile cancer among men in Canada is 127.4 (1.0 per 100 000), while the number for cancer of the anus is [...]

2012-02-26T10:01:29-07:00February, 2012|Oral Cancer News|
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