The HPV vaccine that women take to shield themselves from cervical cancer also protects individuals of both sexes from throat cancer.
Throat cancer is very common, especially in developing countries. Most throat cancers are caused due to an HPV infection. Researchers from the International Agency for Research on Cancer in Lyon, France, have found that taking a HPV vaccine that protects women from cervical cancer can also protect individuals of both sexes from throat cancer.
"We found the women who had the HPV vaccine had much less infection than the women who hadn't," said lead researcher Dr. Rolando Herrero, at the International Agency for Research on Cancer in Lyon, France, in a press statement. "In fact, there was a 90 percent reduction in the prevalence of HPV infection in the women who received the vaccine compared to the women who had not."
For the study, 7,400 women participants aged 18 to 25 received either the HPV vaccine Cervarix or a vaccine against hepatitis A. After four years, researchers found that HPV vaccine led to a 93 percent reduction in throat cancer cases. In the four years only one woman who had been given the HPV vaccine was diagnosed with throat cancer compared to 15 that received a vaccine against hepatitis A.
HPV vaccine comes in three shots, each costing $130. For people who can't afford it, there are many government programs available. The infection is sexually transmitted so researchers suggest that the vaccine is most effective taken just before a person gets sexually active.
According to Dr. Marc Siegel, an associate professor of medicine at NYU Langone Medical Center, New York City, 8 percent people test positive for HPV within five years of becoming sexually active. The Centers of Disease Cure and Prevention suggests boys and girls should be HPV vaccinated when they are 11 years of age.
A previous study published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology stated that in the United States, HPV-positive oral cancers increased from 16 percent of all oral cancers in the 1980s to 70 percent in the early 2000s.
An Oral Cancer Foundation report also predicts that nearly 42,000 Americans will be diagnosed with oral and throat cancer in 2013, and more than 8,000 people will die from these conditions.
