New research suggests that the human papillomavirus vaccine prevents cancer in both men and women, but fewer boys than girls are vaccinated in the United States.
The HPV vaccine was developed to prevent cervical cancer in women, and experts credit it, along with screening, with reducing rates of the condition. Evidence that vaccines prevent HPV-related cancers in men has been slower to emerge, but new research appears to indicate that vaccinated men were less likely to develop mouth and throat cancer compared to those who were not vaccinated. These types of cancer are twice as common in men as in women.
For the study, researchers compared 3.4 million people of similar ages — half of them vaccinated and half unvaccinated — in a large database.
As expected, vaccinated women had a lower risk of developing cervical cancer at least five years after vaccination. There were benefits for men too. Vaccinated men had a lower risk of developing any HPV-related cancer, such as cancers of the anus, penis, mouth and throat.
These cancers take years to develop, so the numbers were low: 57 cases of HPV-related cancer were detected among unvaccinated men—mostly head and neck cancers—compared with 26 among men who received the HPV vaccine.
“We think the maximum benefit of the vaccine will really occur in the next two to three decades,” said Dr. Joseph Curry, a head and neck surgeon at the Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center in Philadelphia and co-author of the study. “What we show here is a first wave of effects.”
The results of this study and a second were published Thursday by the American Society of Clinical Oncology and will be discussed next month at its annual meeting in Chicago. The second study shows an increase in vaccination rates, but men lag behind women in getting vaccinated against HPV.
The presence of HPV is very common and is transmitted sexually. Most infections with this virus are asymptomatic and disappear without treatment. Others turn into cancer, about 37,000 cases a year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
In the United States, the HPV vaccine has been recommended since 2006 for girls ages 11 or 12, and since 2011 for boys the same age. Booster shots are recommended for anyone up to age 26 who has not been vaccinated.
In the second study, researchers analyzed HPV vaccination rates in preteens and young adults—reported by themselves and their parents—in a large government survey. From 2011 to 2020, vaccination rates increased from 38% to 49% among women, and from 8% to 36% among men.
“HPV vaccine acceptance among young men has more than quadrupled over the past decade, although vaccination rates among young men remain lower than among women,” said Dr. Danh Nguyen of Southwest Medical Center. of the University of Texas at Dallas, co-author of the study.
Parents of teenage boys, like those of girls, should know that HPV vaccines reduce the risk of cancer, said Jasmin Tiro of the University of Chicago Comprehensive Medicine Cancer Center, who was not involved in the study. investigation. And teenage boys who have not been vaccinated can do so.
“It is very important for adolescents to get vaccinated before exposing themselves to the virus,” he said.
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2024-05-28 03:57:58