Local health experts tout expanded use of HPV vaccine

The stigma of being diagnosed with a sexually transmitted disease remains a major factor in the afflicted not seeking treatment.The stigma of being diagnosed with a sexually transmitted disease remains a major factor in the afflicted not seeking treatment.

That includes the Human Papillomavirus, a disease that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says infects almost 14 million Americans annually.

But that number could go down now that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has expanded coverage of the HPV vaccine Gardasil 9 to include patients between the ages of 27 and 45.

“This is exciting news and great for our patients,” said Dr. Mark Einstein, professor and chair of the Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology & Women’s Health at Rutgers New Jersey Medical School.

“This expanded approval will allow for patients who have not had vaccinations to receive them. While we do know that it works best when given young, it definitely works in older patients based on the trials that led to this expanded approval,” Einstein said.

The FDA approved a supplemental application for Gardasil 9 on Oct. 5. The vaccine prevents certain cancers and diseases caused by the nine HPV types.

Einstein, who is also chief of service at University Hospital in Newark, said at any given time, a quarter of the population has an active HPV infection.

But some observers contend that there hasn’t been an adequate public health campaign to address HPV.

Dr. Tom Thomas, director of head and neck reconstructive surgery and transoral robotic surgery at the Leonard B. Kahn Head and Neck Cancer Institute at Morristown Medical Center, said the medical community could be doing more.

“It’s possibly due to privacy and shame since the cancer is developed from a sexually transmitted disease,” Thomas said. “Regardless, it is overdue for this society to understand and take steps to prevent the disease.”

According to the CDC, about 12,000 women are diagnosed with and about 4,000 women die from cervical cancer caused by certain HPV viruses. Additionally,it is estimated that about 3,400 new cases of HPV-associatedoropharyngeal cancersare diagnosed in women and about 14,800 in men each year in the U.S.

Gardasil, a vaccine approved by the FDA in 2006, contained the four main HPV types. It is no longer distributed in the U.S.

In 2014, the FDA approved Gardasil 9, which covers the same four HPV types and five others. Initially, Gardasil 9 was approved for use in males and females aged 9-26.

In a study of approximately 3,200 women ages 27-45 who were monitored for three and a half years, Gardasil was 88 percent effective in the prevention of a combined endpoint of persistent infection, genital warts, vulvar and vaginal precancerous lesions, cervical precancerous lesions and cervical cancer related to HPV types covered by the vaccine.

Einstein asserts HPV is largely preventable and while there are new tools available to prevent it, the vaccine is underused.

“For a number of reasons it’s not being used,” he said. “One of the issues is that it’s often controversial. There is not controversy about how well this vaccine works it works almost better than every other vaccine that we have ever developed from a scientific standpoint.

“It’s a vaccine to prevent cancer. The more information we can get out there to educate people as to the benefits of this is critical. Whenever there is a question or controversy that might be created it leads to people not getting vaccinated. With the expanded label maybe there will be more access to the vaccine. As a cancer surgeon I look forward to the day when I never have to take care of another woman suffering from cervical cancer again.” Copyright 2018 BridgeTower Media. All Rights Reserved.

CREDIT: Anthony Vecchione