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NCI-designated cancer centers call for increase in HPV vaccination
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Sixty-nine NCI-designated cancer centers today issued a call for action to urge an increase in HPV vaccination rates for the prevention of cancer.
The statement follows President Barack Obama’s announcement of a national “moonshot” to cure cancer, a strong component of which is cancer prevention. The moonshot effort, intended to rapidly accelerate the progress toward a cancer cure, will be led by Vice President Joe Biden.
Candace S. Johnson, PhD
“This initiative is directly aligned with the desire of the president, vice president and all Americans to work constructively together to eradicate cancer,” Ernest Hawk, MD, vice president and division head of cancer prevention and population sciences at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, said in a press release. “This is one example of actions that can be taken today to make a very big difference in the future cancer burden.”
Approximately 79 million people in the United States are infected with HPV, which causes the majority of cervical, anal, oropharyngeal and other genital cancers.
An estimated 14 million new infections occur yearly. HPV-related cancers are diagnosed in 27,000 Americans each year, according to the statement.
However, only 40% of girls and 21% of boys in the United States receive the recommended three doses of the HPV vaccine.
“Together, we — the NCI-designated cancer centers — recognize these low rates of HPV vaccination as a serious public health threat,” the statement reads. “HPV vaccination represents a rare opportunity to prevent many cases of cancer that is tragically underused.”
These vaccination rates fall short of the 80% goal set by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Service’s Healthy People 2020 initiative. HPV vaccination rates in the United States also are lower than those of Australia (75%), the United Kingdom (84% to 92%) and Rwanda (93%).
The CDC recommends boys and girls receives three HPV vaccine doses at age 11 or 12 years. Although the vaccine appears more effective when administered at a younger age, it is recommended for women until age 26 years and men until age 21 years.
The NCI-designated cancer centers encouraged parents to have their children complete the HPV vaccine series, and for young women and men to receive the vaccine if they did not in their preteen years. They also encouraged health care providers to advocate for childhood HPV vaccination.
“The collective voice of the nation’s cancer centers sends a powerful message that this is a serious public health threat,” Candace S. Johnson, PhD, president and CEO of Roswell Park, said in a press release. “Most HPV-related cancers are preventable through the administration of safe and effective vaccines. This joint statement sends a strong message to the medical community encouraging health care providers to recommend this cancer-preventing vaccine to their patients and their families.” – by Alexandra Todak