HPV vaccine urged for boys as protection against cancer

The HPV vaccine routinely should be recommended for boys and young men because it clearly cuts the risk of cell changes that can develop into anal cancer, says the author of a study published Wednesday.

Data from the paper appearing in the New England Journal of Medicine was presented earlier this year to health authorities who advise the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on the nation’s immunizationstrategy. These experts voted on Tuesday to recommend routine HPV vaccination to boys ages 11 and 12 and catch-up vaccination up to the age of 21.

“The study is the first data looking at biomarkers in the development of anal cancer,” said Dr. Joel Palefsky, a professor of medicine at UC, San Francisco, and the lead author of the paper. “The new data show in addition to preventing genital warts, the vaccine can prevent infection that causes cancer. It was most likely a major consideration in the committee’s decision, but not the only consideration.”

The CDC advisory committee voted unanimously to recommend routine HPV immunization in males because the vaccine, called Gardasil, also prevents genital and respiratory warts and will help reduce transmission of the virusto females. HPV is spread through vaginal, anal and oral sex.

Palefsky’s study looked at 602 healthy men, ages 16 to 26, who had sex with men. The study participants received either the vaccine or a placebo. The vaccine reduced the rate of anal intraepithelial neoplasias -- the cellular changes that occur after HPV infection and that can develop into cancer -- by almost 75%. The risk of persistent anal infection with human papilloma virus was reduced by almost 95%.

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