A number of recent studies have considered the case for HPV-related cancer prevention interventions that are targeted at specific populations. In the developed world, interventions of cervical screening and teenage vaccination aim to cover the female, or male and female, population (at a certain age) in order to prevent cervical cancer. The question of more […]
Category: HPV and cancer
What is the future of cervical screening in the era of HPV vaccination?
With the introduction of HPV child vaccination programmes, there will have to be a shift from cytology to HPV testing as the main technology involved in primary cervical screening, say the contributors to an on-coming special issue of Preventive Medicine (Tota & Ratnam I) (T&R). Why? Well, first, because of the inevitable decline in the positive […]
Where HPV vaccination loses the battle for public support: calculating the health implications for Japan
A recent brief contribution to The Lancet-Oncology (Tanaka & Ueda) uses predictions of the probable health outcomes of the suspension of the Japanese HPV vaccination programme to make the case for an urgent reassessment of the current policy. This intervention is very timely. The approved age for HPV vaccination for Japanese girls is a window of four years […]
Prevention of anogenital cancers in women may be an additional benefit of HPV vaccination
Cervical cancer is evidently the most important, but by no means the only, health risk that vaccination against HPV aims to avert. The potential impact of vaccination on other cancers (not to mention genital warts) may also be a factor in estimating the cost benefit of achieving higher vaccination coverage, as well as determining priorities […]
Mathematical models say: switching to HPV nonavalent vaccine brings cost benefits.
STI journal issues of nearly a decade ago, when HPV vaccination was a relatively new thing, hosted a discussion on the issue of which vaccine to choose. The choice at that time, readers will remember, was between GSK’s Cervarix 2vHPV and Merck’s Gardasil 4vHPV (Morris/STIs)*. Now, the introduction of a third alternative, Gardasil (9vHPV), seems to […]
Achieving HPV herd immunity cost-effectively. When does it make sense to allocate resources preferentially to boys?
Recent empirical studies of HPV vaccination have provided evidence that marginal vaccination costs increase with coverage. Let us take into account – they argue – not just the vaccine price, but the cost of education and outreach programmes that would be needed so as to reach the yet unvaccinated population. If we do so, we […]
Population-based study concludes: HPV vaccination does not cause sexual disinhibition
HPV is known to be the cause of various types of cancer, including cervical cancer. Routine vaccination before the onset of sexual activity ought therefore to be effective in reducing the incidence of these cancers, and has been adopted by many countries. The impact of such programmes will not be apparent for years; but the […]
Heterosexual transmission of HPV to male oral tract via oral/genital route indicated by partner data
The UK Joint Committee for Vaccination and Immunization (JCVI) has not so far decided to extend HPV vaccination to boys, but this possibility remains under consideration (Public Health England Guidance on HPV 2014-15). The potential benefit of protecting males from face and neck cancer will be an important consideration, both in the UK and in […]