Vim & Vigor - Spring 2020 - UVA - 19

Age at Vaccination Matters

PHOTO BY GETTY IMAGES

HPV Vaccine Is
Well-Studied and Safe

Concerns about the vaccine's safety are
unfounded, says Debbie Saslow, senior
director of HPV-related and women's cancers at the American Cancer Society.
"There have been more than 100 studies
with more than 2.5 million people in at least
six countries-that's a lot of safety data,"
Saslow says. "And all of them have shown
that this vaccine is extremely safe and that
there aren't any serious side effects."
Researchers are so certain of its effectiveness that they believe the HPV vaccine can
prevent more than 90 percent of cancers
caused by HPV-and that, largely because
of the vaccine, cervical cancer might be the
first cancer to be eliminated.
The HPV vaccine, first approved by the
Food and Drug Administration in 2006,
was initially approved for girls and women
ages 9 to 26. It was later approved for boys
and men in that same age range. In 2018,
the FDA approved the vaccine through age
45 for all genders.

In the United
States, what
is emerging is
this significant
rise in the
incidence of
oral cancers
associated
with HPV. This
is not just a
female disease.
-Anna Giuliano,
research professor
for the American
Cancer Society

The vaccine works best if it is given before
a person has a sexual encounter. The CDC
recommends vaccinating around age 11 or 12,
but researchers say it can also be given to children as young as 9. That can be difficult for
parents to think about, but it is necessary to
keep children safe from cancers later in life.
"There are parents who are giving their kids
other shots and not giving them the HPV vaccine," Saslow says. She says some parents think
that by giving their kids the HPV vaccine, they
are giving them a license to have sex.
"We don't tell our kids 'Don't wear seat belts
or don't wear bike helmets, because if you do,
you'll be a more reckless driver or bike rider,' "
she says. "We need to be protecting our kids
from this virus."
Adults can benefit from the vaccine, too.
While most adults have been exposed to some
types of HPV, they probably haven't been
exposed to all types yet. Of the more than 100
types of the virus, 14 can cause cancer, and two
strains cause 70 percent of cervical cancers. The
most common vaccine prevents against the four
strains most likely to lead to any type of cancer.
"To prevent all of the other cancers-
oropharyngeal, vaginal, anal, penile and
vulvar-vaccination is the centerpiece,"
Giuliano says. "We have a lot of research that's
ongoing to develop screening tests for the
other cancers, but we don't have any in routine
practice right now."
Until routine screenings are established,
people need to be aware of their bodies and
monitor where they can for changes.
Hill speaks in a raspy, gravelly voice-a
daily reminder of his radiation therapy, which
killed the cancer and also damaged his vocal
cords. And since his last treatment in 1999, he
has devoted his life to helping people understand that HPV can cause cancer.
"You're not going to avoid being exposed to
HPV if you're having sex at all-it's not possible," Hill says. "But this vaccine, it allows us to
prevent children from ever getting the virus.
And if you can't get the virus, you can't get
the things the virus causes, and that means all
these cancers." *
VIM & VIGOR SPRING 2020

Vim & Vigor - Spring 2020 - UVA

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