The human papillomavirus, or HPV, is associated with the development of a number of conditions including cervical cancer, precancerous diseases of the cervix and genital warts. It is usually transmitted sexually. According to Mayo Clinic, 11,000 cases of cervical cancer were diagnosed in the U.S. in 2007. Two types of HPV vaccine are available to help prevent cervical, vulvar or vaginal cancer as well as genital warts in girls and women. HPV vaccines can also help prevent genital warts in boys and men.
Gardasil
Gardasil helps protect against four types of HPV, including the two types responsible for 70 percent of cervical cancers in girls and women 9 to 26 years old. The vaccine also protects against the two types of HPV responsible for 90 percent of genital warts cases. The vaccine may also protect girls and women against vaginal cancer and vulvar cancer.
Several concerns have emerged related to the use of Gardasil. In 2007, three young women were reported to have died from heart attacks or blood clots only days after vaccination with Gardasil. The vacccine has also been suspected of causing adverse reactions in at least 1,700 other patients. Research has not proven that the vaccine was directly responsible for any of the reported deaths or adverse reactions, however.
Cervarix
The Cervarix vaccine protects against cervical cancer and premalignant cervical lesions in girls and women 10 years old and older. According to the National Research Center for Women and Families, Cervarix works by inducing an immune response and provides protection against HPV strains 16 and 18 that lasts for approximately 6.4 years. As with Gardasil, there have been reports of adverse events after vaccination with Cervarix. A 2009 report in the "Telegraph" newspaper described 1,500 cases of adverse reactions after Cervarix vaccination in the U.K.
Vaccines in Development
Researches are investigating vaccines designed to act against two HPV cancer-causing proteins known as E6 and E7. According to a 2004 article published in "Human Pathology," these proteins are co-expressed in most HPV-containing cancers. According to lead author Dr. Richard Roden, vaccines targeting E6 and E7 "may provide the best option for controlling HPV-associated malignancies."
References
- Mayo Clinic: HPV Vaccine Protects Against Cancer
- American Cancer Society: Vulvar Cancer
- "Telegraph": Cervical Cancer Drug Gardasil Linked to Deaths; Lucy Cockcroft; October 2007
- National Research Center for Women & Families:The Cervical Cancer Vaccine: What Everyone Should Know and What the Future Holds
- "Telegraph": Cervarix: The Simple Injection Causing So Much Controversy; Bryony Gordon; March 2009
