Almost exactly a year ago I had posted an article here on the wisdom of making Gardasil vaccinations mandatory for teenage girls. Gardasil is a vaccine manufactured by Merck against the human papilloma virus (HPV) which causes cervical cancer, one of the most common forms of cancer affecting women. The vaccine has been found to be 100% effective in clinical trials. But no data is available on the long term effects of the vaccine. While I strongly believe that the vaccine holds great promise and should be looked at carefully, my post questioned Texas governor Rick Perry’s motives in aggressively pushing the drug for Merck.
I had asked the following question in my previous post:
[W]hy is the vaccine being aimed only at girls? Gardasil is a vaccine against the human papilloma virus (HPV), not cervical cancer. Although only girls are at risk of developing cervical cancer when infected with HPV, boys too get infected by the virus and can spread it to their sexual partners. Should yet another onerous burden of responsible sexual behavior be borne just by young women? The report on Gardasil says:
….A recent study found that 90 percent of cervical cancer cases could be eliminated if boys and girls got the vaccine. If only girls get it, just more than three quarters of cases would be eliminated. (italics mine)
A recent study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology now reveals that boys (men) infected with HPV are not just prone to infecting their sexual partners, but they themselves are vulnerable to oral and throat cancers brought about by the virus. Based on the results of the study, Merck plans to petition Congress for FDA approval to make Gardasil shots available to teenage boys.
ATLANTA (AP) — The sexually transmitted virus that causes cervical cancer in women is poised to become one of the leading causes of oral cancer in men, according to a new study.
The HPV virus now causes as many cancers of the upper throat as tobacco and alcohol, probably due both to an increase in oral sex and the decline in smoking, researchers say.
The only available vaccine against HPV, made by Merck & Co. Inc., is currently given only to girls and young women. But Merck plans this year to ask government permission to offer the shot to boys.
Experts say a primary reason for male vaccinations would be to prevent men from spreading the virus and help reduce the nearly 12,000 cases of cervical cancer diagnosed in U.S. women each year. But the new study should add to the argument that there may be a direct benefit for men, too.
"We need to start having a discussion about those cancers other than cervical cancer that may be affected in a positive way by the vaccine," said study co-author Dr. Maura Gillison of Johns Hopkins University.
The study was published Friday in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.
Human papillomavirus, or HPV, is the leading cause of cervical cancer in women. It also can cause genital warts, penile and anal cancer — risks for males that generally don’t get the same attention as cervical cancer.
Previous research by Gillison and others established HPV as a primary cause of the estimated 5,600 cancers that occur each year in the tonsils, lower tongue and upper throat. It’s also been known that the virus’ role in such cancers has been rising.
The new study looked at more than 30 years of National Cancer Institute data on oral cancers. Researchers categorized about 46,000 cases, using a formula to divide them into those caused by HPV and those not connected to the virus.
They concluded the incidence rates for HPV-related oral cancers rose steadily in men from 1973 to 2004, becoming about as common as those from tobacco and alcohol.
The Associated Press report here. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s facts sheet on HPV and Gardasil still lists only girls as the potential beneficiaries.
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