Cancer Prevention News 2015: HPV Vaccination Can Prevent Cancer and Cut Oral Cancer Costs, Says Canadian Study

By Catherine Isabedra, Christian Post Contributor Tuesday, April 14, 2015

Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) vaccines, according to Center for Disease Control, are shots given in three doses over a 6-month course to prevent infection from the human papilloma virus. Girls and young women are highly advised to get the vaccines to protect against cervical cancer.

The center also adds that two of the HPV vaccine (Gardasil and Gardasil 9) can also protect against anal cancer and genital warts in both males and females. Ideally, preteen girls and boys are advised to get the shots so that the immune system has ample time to respond before they become sexually active.

Before, HPV vaccines are generally marketed to women as a cervical cancer and genital warts prevention. However, in recent years, there is a spike in the number of oropharyngeal cancer in heterosexual males. At present, HPV causes about 70 percent of the head and neck cancers.

The Ohio State University Professor of Medicine, Dr. Maura Gillison, was the first to identify that HOV can cause cancers of the head and neck.

"There is a strong gender difference – men are at a three to five fold increased risk compared to women," she said.

The new Canadian study published in the journal of American Cancer Society, CANCER, found that more than 190,000 Canadian boys aged 12 who has the vaccination was able to save about $28 million ($22.2 million in U.S. dollars) Canadian dollars.

Authors of the study concluded that, "According to the findings of this preliminary analysis, HOV vaccination for boys aged 12 years may be a cost-effective strategy in relation to the prevention of oropharyngeal cancer alone, strengthening the cost-effectiveness of a male vaccination program."

Children's Hospital of Wisconsin in Miwaukee Rodney Willoughby, MD shares the growing concern for oropharyngeal cancer prevention. "The problem with the males is that they have a higher burden of the oropharyngeal cancers, and there is not precancerous marker that allows you to do studies in a short period of time."

In the U.S., only 14 percent of boys are fully vaccinated against HPV in 2013.