The new 9-valent human papillomavirus vaccine, can potentially prevent 80% of cervical cancers in the US, if given to all 11- or 12-year-old children before they are exposed to the virus. In addition to protecting against 80% of cervical cancers, the new 9-Valent human papillomavirus vaccine, which includes seven cancer causing HPV-types – 16,18,31,33,45,52 and 58 – has the potential to protect against nearly 19,000 other cancers diagnosed in the US, including anal, oropharyngeal and penile cancers. This is a 13% increase in protection against HPV-related cancers in comparison to the first vaccines on the market, Gardasil and Cervarix, which protected against HPV types 16 and 18.
These findings come from a seven-centre study initiated by the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention in conjunction with Cedars-Sinai. "This is the first comprehensive study of its kind and shows the potential to not only reduce the global cancer burden, but also guide clinical decision-making with regard to childhood vaccinations," said Dr Marc T Goodman, senior author of the study and director of Cancer Prevention and Genetics at the Cedars-Sinai Samuel Oschin Comprehensive Cancer Institute.
The study found the 9-Valent vaccine, under the trademark of Gardasil-9, also has the potential to protect against an additional 8% of oropharyngeal cancers, which include the base of the tongue and tonsils. This disease is the second-most-common HPV-associated cancer.
"We found that 70% of patient DNA tissue samples with cancer of the oropharynx harboured HPV," added Goodman. "This is a much higher percentage of HPV than observed in other studies, likely because of changes in sexual behaviors, such as increased oral-genital contact."
The 9-Valent vaccine was also found to potentially increase protection from other HPV-related cancers including those of the vulva, from 71% to 92%; vagina, from 73% to 98%; the penis, 76% to 90%; and the anus, 87% to 96%.
To compile these data, researchers examined 2,670 HPV DNA tissue samples from seven population-based cancer registries. Study authors intend to perform additional research in the future to follow up on their estimate of how well the current vaccines protect against HPV-associated cancers.
[link url="http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2015-05/cmc-8po051115.php"]Cedars Sinai material[/link]
[link url="http://jnci.oxfordjournals.org/content/107/6/djv086.abstract?sid=09d27b0a-68e6-4e14-943c-a905b3dcdaea"]Journal of the National Cancer Institute abstract[/link]