http://www.philly.com/philly/health/topics/133530728.html
WEDNESDAY, Nov. 9 (HealthDay News) -- A new study suggests that the Cervarix cervical cancer vaccine may provide "excellent" protection against a precancerous lesion that is often a forerunner to invasive cervical cancer.
Cervarix, made by GlaxoSmithKline, protects against human papillomavirus (HPV) types 16 and 18, which cause 70 percent of cervical cancers. The vaccine is particularly effective when given to adolescent girls before they become sexually active.
Cervarix is one of two HPV vaccines approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, the other being Merck's Gardasil.
The four-year study included nearly 20,000 women aged 15 to 25 in 14 countries in North America, Latin America, the Asia-Pacific region and Europe. The vaccine was found to be more than 93 percent effective against the CIN3 lesion, a precancerous anomaly that often appears before invasive cancer.
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http://www.philly.com/philly/health/topics/133530728.html#ixzz1qRRgFQPk
Gardasil vaccine safe and effective against anal cancer
http://www.news-medical.net/news/20111027/Gardasil-vaccine-safe-and-effective-against-anal-cancer.aspx
A large, international clinical trial led by doctors at the University of California, San Francisco indicates that a vaccine to prevent anal cancer is safe and effective, according to a study reported in the Oct. 27, 2011 issue of New England Journal of Medicine.
Though anal cancer is less common than other forms of the disease in the United States, the number of cases has increased in recent years, and is particularly common among men who have sex with men and HIV-infected individuals.
Anal cancer is caused by infection with human papilloma virus (HPV), the most common sexually-transmitted pathogen in the United States. The virus also causes cervical cancer in women, and the vaccine is already approved and routinely recommended to prevent this condition. The new clinical trial suggests that the same vaccine would also protect men, and likely women, against anal cancer.
In the 1990's, UCSF established the Anal Neoplasia Clinic at the UCSF Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center, the world's first clinic devoted to promoting research, awareness, screening and prevention of anal cancer. UCSF professor Joel Palefsky, MD, FRCPC, who founded and directs the clinic, led the clinical trial, and has recently founded a new professional society devoted to the study of the disease.
http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/factsheet/prevention/HPV-vaccine
National Cancer Insitutue
How effective are the HPV vaccines?
Gardasil and Cervarix are highly effective in preventing infection with the types of HPV they target. The vaccines have been shown to provide protection against persistent cervical HPV 16/18 infections for up to 8 years, which is the maximum time of research follow-up thus far. More will be known about the total duration of protection as research continues (7).
HPV vaccination has also been found to prevent nearly 100 percent of the precancerous cervical cell changes that would have been caused by HPV 16/18. The data so far show duration of production for up to 6.4 years with Cervarix and for up to 5 years for Gardasil—in women who were not infected with HPV at the time of vaccination (7–10).
A recent analysis of data from a clinical trial of Cervarix found that this vaccine is just as effective at protecting women against persistent HPV 16 and 18 infection in the anus as it is at protecting them from these infections in the cervix (11).
Both Gardasil and Cervarix are designed to be given to people in three doses over a 6-month period. However, a recent study showed that women who received only two doses of Cervarix had just as much protection from persistent HPV 16/18 infection as women who received three doses, and the protection was observed through 4 years of follow up (12). Even one dose provided protection; however, these findings need to be evaluated with more research to determine whether fewer than three doses of the vaccine will provide adequate duration of protection. Nonetheless, this information may be helpful for public health officials who administer vaccination programs among groups of people unlikely to complete the three-dose regimen.
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Why are these vaccines important?
Widespread vaccination has the potential to reduce cervical cancer deaths around the world by as much as two-thirds, if all women were to get the vaccine and if protection turns out to be long-term. In addition, the vaccines can reduce the need for medical care, biopsies, and invasive procedures associated with follow-up from abnormal Pap tests, thus helping to reduce health care costs and anxieties related to abnormal Pap tests and follow-up procedures (13).
The other cancers caused by HPV are less common than cervical cancer. However, there are no formal screening programs for these cancers, so vaccination has the potential to greatly reduce deaths from these cancers also.
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How safe are the HPV vaccines?
Before any vaccine is licensed, the FDA must determine that it is both safe and effective. Both Gardasil and Cervarix have been tested in tens of thousands of people in the United States and many other countries. Thus far, no serious side effects have been shown to be caused by the vaccines. The most common problems have been brief soreness and other local symptoms at the injection site. These problems are similar to ones commonly experienced with other vaccines. The vaccines have not been sufficiently tested during pregnancy and, therefore, should not be used by pregnant women.
A recent safety review by the FDA and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) considered adverse side effects related to Gardasil immunization that have been reported to the Vaccine Adverse Events Reporting System since the vaccine was licensed (14). The rates of adverse side effects in the safety review were consistent with what was seen in safety studies carried out before the vaccine was approved and were similar to those seen with other vaccines. However, a higher proportion of syncope (fainting) and venous thrombolic events (blood clots) were seen with Gardasil than are usually seen with other vaccines.
Falls after syncope may sometimes cause serious injuries, such as head injuries. These can largely be prevented by keeping the vaccinated person seated for up to 15 minutes after vaccination. The FDA and CDC have reminded health care providers that, to prevent falls and injuries, all vaccine recipients should remain seated or lying down and be closely observed for 15 minutes after vaccination. More information is available from the CDC.
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