vaccination – Page 6 – Oral Cancer News

Girls-Only Vaccine Could Be Best Weapon Against HPV

Source: Jezebel.com A new study argues that vaccinating boys against HPV isn't the best use of resources, since vaccinating more girls will actually lead to a greater reduction in overall infections. However, there are also political implications to consider. Back in October, I wrote that the rise of HPV-related throat cancer in men was an excellent argument for vaccinating boys against the virus. And later that month, the CDC extended its vaccine recommendation to include boys as well as girls. But now, researchers say that focusing on vaccinating more members of one sex may be more effective than trying to vaccinate both. In a study published in PLoS Medicine, Johannes A. Bogaards used mathematical modeling to determine which vaccination strategy would lead to the greatest reduction in HPV prevalence. They found that increasing the percentage of girls vaccinated would actually have the biggest effect. Bogaards et al write, "We show that, once routine vaccination of one sex is in place, increasing the coverage in that sex is much more effective in bolstering herd immunity than switching to a policy that includes both sexes. Universal vaccination against HPV should therefore only become an option when vaccine uptake among girls cannot be further increased. Adding boys to current vaccination programs seems premature, because female coverage rates still leave ample room for improvement in most countries that have introduced HPV vaccination. So far, only three countries have achieved a three-dose coverage of 70% or more in females." The authors do note that while [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2011-12-22T14:15:49-07:00December, 2011|Oral Cancer News|

HPV vaccine myths put health, lives at risk, say health leaders: Airing the facts

Source: TheNationsHealth.org Vaccination rates for human papillomavirus are lagging for teens, and a complicated web of confusion and misinformation may be to blame, according to public health leaders. Several strains of HPV can cause cervical cancer, and two vaccines, Gardasil and Cervarix, have been shown conclusively to defend against those strains. The Food and Drug Administration recommended in 2006 that girls receive the vaccine before they become sexually active so that they are protected at the outset. In 2009, FDA approved the use of the vaccine for boys as well. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, about 6 million people in the U.S. become infected with HPV each year and each year about 12,000 women are diagnosed with cervical cancer, leading to about 4,000 deaths. Studies have shown the vaccine to be overwhelmingly safe, CDC said. As of June 2011, about 35 million doses of Gardasil had been distributed in the United States. CDC’s adverse event tracking mechanisms reported about 18,000 adverse events, 92 percent of which were nonserious events, such as fainting, swelling at the injection site and headache. Sixty-eight deaths were reported, but there is “no unusual pattern or clustering to the deaths that would suggest that they were caused by the vaccine, and some reports indicated a cause of death unrelated to vaccination,” CDC said. And yet, fed perhaps by misinformation or squeamishness about the idea of their children becoming sexually active, some parents are opting not to vaccinate, and the vaccination rates are [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2011-12-01T12:41:51-07:00December, 2011|Oral Cancer News|

Trial Confirms Efficacy of HPV Vaccine, Shows Cross-Protection

Source: National Cancer Institute End-of-trial results from a trial testing Cervarix, a vaccine against human papillomavirus (HPV) types 16 and 18, showed that the vaccine continued to provide substantial protection against cervical precancers 4 years after vaccination. Cervarix provided almost complete protection in young women who had no evidence of exposure to HPV at the time of vaccination. The vaccine provided less protection for the total vaccinated cohort and was less effective with increasing age at vaccination. These findings reflect the vaccine’s lack of effectiveness against infections acquired before vaccination. The vaccine also partially protected women against four types of HPV that are not targeted by the vaccine. (Although HPV-16 and -18 cause about 70 percent of cervical cancers worldwide, as many as 15 HPV types can cause cancer.) These results from the PATRICIA trial (Papilloma Trial against Cancer in Young Adults) were published online November 9 in Lancet Oncology in two separate papers, available here and here. The PATRICIA trial enrolled 18,644 young women between the ages of 15 and 25 from 14 countries. The participants were randomly assigned to receive either three doses of Cervarix or three doses of a hepatitis A vaccine as a control. Results from the interim analysis, published in July 2009, showed that the vaccine greatly reduced the risk of grade 2 cervical intraepithelial neoplasias and higher (CIN2+). The new analysis shows that, 4 years after vaccination, Cervarix provided complete protection against grade 3 cervical intraepithelial neoplasias or higher (CIN3+) associated with HPV-16 and [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2011-11-29T18:55:35-07:00November, 2011|Oral Cancer News|

Implications of the Oropharyngeal Cancer Epidemic

Source: Journal of Clinical Oncology Chaturvedi et al,1 analyzing specimens back to 1984, validate the long-held hypothesis that infection with human papillomavirus (HPV) has increased oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma (OPSCC) incidence in the US. They find the incidence of OPSCC in men—who have higher risks of both HPV-positive and HPV-negative OPSCC than women—similar to that of cervical cancer in women. From 1988 to 2004, incidence of HPV-negative OPSCC decreased in parallel with smoking whereas incidence of HPV-positive OPSCC increased at about 7.5% per year, so the percentage of OPSCC that was HPV-positive went from less than 20% to more than 70%. HPV-positive and HPV-negative OPSCC are etiologically and clinically distinct,2,3 with HPV-positive disease having better outcome.4–6 In the current study,1 the hazard ratio of 0.3 for HPV-positive/HPV-negative in survival analysis essentially balances the difference in prevalence so each form of OPSCC now accounts for a similar number of deaths. Notably, the authors found that outcomes for HPV-positive OPSCC have improved over time, whereas outcomes for HPV-negative OPSCC are as dismal as they were 25 years ago. The authors argue convincingly that vaccination to prevent oral HPV infections should be evaluated and that better treatments for both types of OPSCC should be developed. We are unlikely to get a better picture of the recent history of OPSCC in the United States. This study used all available OPSCC specimens from the three Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) registries that participate in the Residual Tissue Repositories Program, analyzed them in several ways, [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2011-11-09T15:24:59-07:00November, 2011|Oral Cancer News|

HPV Vaccination Could Reduce the Number of Screening Procedures

The National Journal By Sophie Quinton Widespread vaccination against cervical cancer could reduce the need for burdensome screenings, U.S. and Finnish researchers said on Tuesday. A study published in the journal Lancet Oncology show that GlaxoSmithKline’s Cervarix vaccine, which protects against two strains of human papillomavirus, or HPV, was more than 93 percent effective in preventing precancerous lesions in women who had never been infected and completely protected young women from the strains of virus targeted by the vaccine. The vaccine also reduced cancer risk for women who had already been infected by HPV, but was far less effective. A second study found that Cervarix can protect against rarer strains of HPV that also cause cancer. Neither study looked at Gardisil, the other licensed HPV vaccine, which protects against four strains of HPV—including the two targeted by Cervarix. The efficacy of vaccination adds fuel to two debates: how often women need to undergo cervical cancer screenings, and how important it is to reach girls—and boys—with HPV vaccinations before they become sexually active. The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, American Cancer Society, and other clinical groups have agreed that the pap smear—the screening for cervical cancer—does not need to be done every year for most women, and suggest that screenings begin at age 21. For vaccinated women, the need for screening might be further reduced. “Provided that organised vaccination programs achieve high coverage in early adolescents before sexual debut, HPV vaccination has the potential to substantially reduce the incidence of cervical [...]

Charlotte Parker2011-11-08T20:47:32-07:00November, 2011|Oral Cancer News|

Rate of HPV Vaccination in Teens Lagging

Source: The Associated Press Author: Staff Only about half of the teenage girls in the U.S. have rolled up their sleeves for a controversial vaccine against cervical cancer — a rate well below those for two other vaccinations aimed at adolescents. The vaccine hit the market in 2006. By last year, just 49 percent of girls had gotten at least the first of the recommended three shots for human papilloma virus, or HPV, a sexually-transmitted bug that can cause cervical cancer and genital warts. Only a third had gotten all three doses, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Thursday. In contrast, the CDC said about two-thirds of teens had gotten the recommended shot for one type of bacterial meningitis and a shot for meningitis and tetanus, diphtheria and whooping cough. Granted, it can take many years for a new vaccine to catch on and reach the 90 percent and above range for many longstanding childhood vaccines. But use of HPV vaccine has been "very disappointing" compared to other newer vaccines, said the CDC's Dr. Melinda Wharton. "If we don't do a much better job, we're leaving another generation vulnerable to cervical cancer later in life," said Wharton. Why aren't more girls getting HPV shots? The vaccine can be very expensive, and it can be a bit of a hassle. It takes three visits to the doctor over six months. But sex no doubt has something to do with it, experts said. Girls are supposed to start the [...]

Charlotte Parker2011-08-26T12:24:52-07:00August, 2011|Oral Cancer News|

Can HPV vaccine stop throat cancer?

Source: children.webmd.com Author: Daniel J. DeNoon, WebMD Health News (Reviewed by Louise Chang, MD) HPV (human papillomavirus) vaccines protect against the sexually transmitted strains of HPV that cause cervical cancer. The same HPV strains -- spread by kissing and by oral sex -- cause oropharyngeal (OP) cancer, the form of head and neck cancer that affects the back and sides of the throat, the base of the tongue, and the tonsils. There's strong evidence that HPV vaccines prevent cervical cancer. There's no direct proof that these vaccines prevent throat cancer, but the rapid rise in cases among young people has some experts wanting to vaccinate first and get proof later. "We don't need to wait until all these molecular events are understood," Dong Moon Shin, MD, of Emory University's Winship Cancer Center, tells WebMD. "The time is now. For the HPV vaccine, cost is the only issue as side effects are minimal. Routine HPV vaccination has to be implemented very soon, for both boys and girls." In the U.S., that recommendation is made by the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP). The ACIP now recommends routine HPV vaccination only for girls and young women in order to prevent cervical cancer. It permits vaccination of boys who want protection against HPV-caused genital warts. For two years, the ACIP has been mulling whether to recommend the HPV vaccine for boys. This would help prevent cervical cancer in unvaccinated women. It also would prevent HPV-related anal cancer and genital warts in both men [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2011-06-25T08:44:16-07:00June, 2011|Oral Cancer News|

With HPV-related head and neck cancers rising, focus on treatment and vaccination

Source: blogs.wsj.com/health Author: Laura Landro A form of head and neck cancer associated with the sexually transmitted human papillomavirus is on the rise, especially in men, the WSJ reports. Fast-rising rates of oropharyngeal cancer — tumors in the tonsil and back-of-the-tongue area — have been linked to changes in sexual behavior that include the increased practice of oral sex and a greater number of sexual partners. But HPV-positive cancer has also been reported in individuals who report few or no sexual partners. It may also be possible for the virus to be transmitted to an infant via an infected mother’s birth canal. An HPV vaccine is routinely recommended for girls because the virus can cause cervical cancer. The rise in HPV-positive head and neck cancers is leading to a new focus both on treatment of the disease, and whether recommending routine vaccination for boys could prevent oral infections and cancers. (A CDC advisory panel said in 2009 that it was fine for boys to get the vaccine, but recommended against routine administration.) Eric Genden, chief of head and neck oncology at Mt. Sinai Medical Center, tells the Health Blog that when treated appropriately, patients with HPV-positive cancers have an 85% to 90% disease-free survival rate over five years. By contrast, patients with HPV-negative head and neck cancers, which are often associated with smoking and drinking, typically have more advanced disease when the cancer is detected and face a five-year survival rate of only 25% to 40%, Genden says. HPV-induced head [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2011-05-31T14:23:46-07:00May, 2011|Oral Cancer News|

HPV prevalence in men

Source: The Lancet, Volume 377, Issue 9769, Pages 881 - 883, 12 March 2011 Authors: Anna Giuliano et al. In The Lancet, Anna Giuliano and colleagues1 present a prospective study (HPV in Men [HIM]) of the incidence and clearance of human papillomavirus (HPV) infections in men. They also report on male sexual behavior, which determines HPV incidence and clearance. The epidemiology of HPV infections in men is not well understood and thus the results are of substantial interest. The results bring to light important new information, and draw attention to differences between the natural histories of male and female HPV infections, and the need for further studies to better define HPV transmission, progression to disease, and epithelial sites in men. Because HPV infection in men greatly affects disease risk in women,2 transmission and protection are important topics. However, circumcision and condom use have not been clearly shown to fully protect against either HPV acquisition or clearance in male genital sites,3, 4 which questions their value in preventing infection in men and transmission to female partners. Understanding male HPV infection is important to minimize anxiety and the health-care costs associated with genital warts, penile cancer treatment, and morbidity in men, in addition to addressing the acknowledged public health concern created by HPV infection in women. The HIM data on HPV incidence and clearance should be exploited to elaborate prevention guidance, and to minimize transmission and to aid management and associated concerns for couples. Because most HPV infections in men are asymptomatic, [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2011-03-12T11:50:39-07:00March, 2011|Oral Cancer News|

Global cancer statistics

Corresponding author: Ahmedin Jemal, DVM, PhD, Surveillance Research, American Cancer Society The global burden of cancer continues to increase largely because of the aging and growth of the world population alongside an increasing adoption of cancer-causing behaviors, particularly smoking, in economically developing countries. Based on the GLOBOCAN 2008 estimates, about 12.7 million cancer cases and 7.6 million cancer deaths are estimated to have occurred in 2008; of these, 56% of the cases and 64% of the deaths occurred in the economically developing world. Breast cancer is the most frequently diagnosed cancer and the leading cause of cancer death among females, accounting for 23% of the total cancer cases and 14% of the cancer deaths. Lung cancer is the leading cancer site in males, comprising 17% of the total new cancer cases and 23% of the total cancer deaths. Breast cancer is now also the leading cause of cancer death among females in economically developing countries, a shift from the previous decade during which the most common cause of cancer death was cervical cancer. Further, the mortality burden for lung cancer among females in developing countries is as high as the burden for cervical cancer, with each accounting for 11% of the total female cancer deaths. Although overall cancer incidence rates in the developing world are half those seen in the developed world in both sexes, the overall cancer mortality rates are generally similar. Cancer survival tends to be poorer in developing countries, most likely because of a combination of a [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2011-03-10T10:27:12-07:00March, 2011|Oral Cancer News|