Genital Warts Advisor

Cervical Cancer Vaccines May Start Soon

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• Author: Steven Johns
• June 5, 2008
• Category: cancer, hpv, hpv vaccine, vaccine

A cervical cancer vaccine programme is likely to be introduced in the Republic in the near future, on foot of today’s publication of a Health Information and Quality Authority (Hiqa) report.

The HIQA value-for-money report should pave the way for the early announcement of a formal immunisation programme aimed at 12-year-old girls. The report also recommends a once-off vaccination programme for 13 to 15 year-olds.

Cervical cancer is caused by certain types of the human papillomavirus (HPV), with evidence of infection found in 99 per cent of women with cervical cancer.

The Minister for Health, Mary Harney has said she would introduce a HPV/cervical cancer vaccine programme if advised to do so.

Although there are in excess of 200 HPV strains, just a small number are associated with the development of cancer of the cervix. HPV types 16 and 18 are found in almost 70 per cent of cervical cancers, while another five sub types are responsible of a further 20 per cent of cases. Some HPV types are non cancerous but are linked to the presence of warts in the genital area.

Cancer of the neck of the womb (cervix) is diagnosed in almost 200 women here every year; some 70 women die from the disease annually.

Cervical cancer usually develops quite slowly, passing through a number of pre invasive stages (carcinoma in situ - CIN) before progressing to full blown disease. If caught in the early stages, it has a five-year survival rate of 80 per cent or greater.

HPV is a sexually transmitted infection; it is estimated that almost 80 per cent of sexually active people have been infected with at least one virus type by the age of 50. It is usually symptomless and in 90 per cent of cases, the body clears itself of the virus within two years of infection. But it is when the virus persists that the risk of cervical cancer increases.

Gardasil and Cervarix are the approved vaccines against HPV. Both aim to prevent cervical cancer; in addition Gardasil is active against those HPV subtypes known to cause genital warts. Both products involve a three-vaccine course, given over a six-month period. And clinical trials involving a five-year follow-up, have shown that vaccination is 100 per cent effective in preventing HPV infection and non-invasive cancer .

HPV vaccines must be given before infection with the virus occurs. This means administering the course prior to the person becoming sexually active so that a comprehensive vaccination program would need to be administered to girls in the 11- to 13-year age bracket.

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More links found between cancer in men and HPV, but men aren’t approved for vaccination

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• Author: Steven Johns
• June 5, 2008
• Category: cancer, hpv, hpv vaccine, vaccine

by Brian Boyer

Men are neither vaccinated nor screened for human papillomavirus, but two university studies suggested last week that it may be the cause of cancer for many men, and that those cancers could have been prevented.

The virus, better known as HPV, is the primary cause of cervical cancer in women. Recent research, at the University of Michigan and University of Louisville, suggests that it is also the cause of a disease that disproportionately affects men, cancers of the head and neck.

“You should be testing everybody,” said Payal Desai, leader of a pilot study at the Louisville’s James Graham Brown Cancer Center. Both men and women carry HPV, the virus that will affect at least 50 percent of sexually active people, according to the Food and Drug Administration, though only a fraction of those will develop cancer.

More than 35,000 new cases of head and neck cancer are expected to be diagnosed in the United States in 2008, according to the American Cancer Society. Twice as many men as women will develop the disease, which the society estimates will kill 7,590 Americans this year.

Currently a screening test only exists for women. Similarly, a vaccine for HPV exists, but is only approved for use in women ages 9 to 26. Studies are under way to test the efficacy of the HPV vaccine in men, according to the FDA.

If the vaccine were successful in preventing HPV infections in men, the studies suggest it is possible that a significant number of cancer cases in men could be avoided.

In one study, tissue samples from 43 head and neck cancer patients were tested by the Louisville team. They found that almost one-third of the samples tested positive for HPV, specifically the strain of the virus known as HPV 16.

In the other study, at Michigan’s Comprehensive Cancer Center, had similar findings. More than one-third of the 66 head and neck cancer cases they examined tested positive for HPV 16. This study’s primary finding was encouraging: The HPV-associated tumors responded significantly better to treatment than those not associated with HPV.

In women, HPV types 16 and 18 are responsible for 70 percent of cervical cancer cases. The American Cancer Society estimates that 11,070 cases will be diagnosed, and that the disease will kill 3,870 women in the United States in 2008.

Infection by strains 16 and 18 can be prevented through vaccination, with almost 100 percent effectiveness. The drug Gardasil, first made available to young women in 2006, also vaccinates against types 6 and 11, which are responsible for 90 percent genital warts cases.

Desai presented the findings of their study May 15 at the American College of Physicians Internal Medicine Conference. The results have not yet been published. The University of Michigan study was published online May 12 in the Journal of Clinical Oncology. In February, another study, at the National Cancer Institute and Johns Hopkins Medical Insitutions, suggested a link in men between HPV and oral cancer.

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Government promises free cervical cancer vaccination campaign

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• Author: Steven Johns
• May 18, 2008
• Category: cancer

FREE vaccinations against a virus that can cause cervical cancer will be made available for girls aged 12 to 18 within the next five years.

Prime Minister Helen Clark announced last week that the government will pledge $164.2million to fund a vaccine against the human papilloma virus (HPV), a common sexually transmitted infection linked with cervical cancer.

A national immunisation programme will be rolled out from September.

Dr Nikki Turner of the Immunisation Advisory Centre says the move will have a “significant impact on reducing cervical cancer”.

“It has already been introduced to many Western countries including Australia, the UK, the USA, and Canada. This is a hugely positive step for young women in New Zealand.”

HPV viruses are part of the wart virus family and lead to a range of genital cancers and genital warts.

Every year 180 women are diagnosed with cervical cancer and around 60 die from the disease.

“HPV infection is extremely common in all sexually active women,” says Dr Turner.

“Three years after becoming sexually active, around two thirds of women have been exposed to HPV virus, regardless of their number of sexual partners.

“While 98 per cent of infections resolve without any problems, about two per cent are still present after five years.

“Persistent on-going infection over 10 years or more can lead to cancer.”

The vaccine will be free for more than 300,000 young women aged 12 to 18 and is expected to save around 30 lives each year.

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