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American Cancer Society endorses CDC’s HPV vaccine recommendations
The American Cancer Society endorsed a CDC advisory committee recommendation that all children ages 11 to 12 years old receive HPV vaccination.
“HPV vaccination has the potential to prevent tens of thousands of cancers and hundreds of thousands of pre-cancers each year,” Debbie Saslow, PhD, director of cancer control intervention for HPV vaccination and women’s cancers, said in a society-issued press release. “It is critical that all stakeholders — families, health care providers and others — make HPV vaccination a priority so that prevention of the vast majority of cervical, vaginal, vulvar, anal, penile and oropharyngeal cancers can become a reality.”
Debbie Saslow
In 2007, the cancer society published its first guideline on the use of prophylactic HPV vaccines for prevention of cervical cancer or pre-cancer.
Since then, HPV vaccination has been approved for use in males. Also, new versions of the vaccine have become available, and several studies have added to the evidence of the vaccine’s efficacy and safety.
The cancer society’s updated guideline supports recommendations from the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), considered the lead authority for guidance on national immunization policy.
ACIP recommends the following:
- Routine HPV vaccination of all children should be initiated at age 11 or 12 years. The vaccination series can be started beginning as early as age 9.
- Vaccination for females ages 13 to 26 years, as well as for males aged 13 to 21 years, who have not been vaccinated previously or who did not complete the three-dose series. Males 22 through 26 years old also may be vaccinated.
- Late vaccination for adolescents who were not vaccinated at the recommended age should be completed as soon as possible.
- Individuals ages 22 to 26 who were not previously vaccinated should be informed that vaccination at older ages is less effective for lowering cancer risk. The ACIP does not specifically recommend vaccination in this group.
- Vaccination of females is recommended with any of the three available vaccines — options are the 2-valent, 4-valent or 9-valent vaccines — whereas vaccination of males is recommended with the 4-valent or 9-valent vaccines.
- Vaccination is recommended through age 26 for men who have sex with men, as well as for immunocompromised individuals — including those with HIV — if they have not been vaccinated previously.
Data published earlier this month in CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report showed approximately 39,000 new cases of HPV–associated cancers were diagnosed per year in the United States between 2008 and 2012.
Nearly 29,000 cases of HPV–associated cancers could be prevented through HPV vaccination, according to the researchers.
ASCO issued a policy statement earlier this year saying greater uptake of HPV vaccination should be a priority to reduce the worldwide cancer burden.
Despite the CDC’s vaccination recommendations, the current uptake rate of HPV vaccination is estimated at 34.8%. Rates are lower for children in high-risk populations, such as those who are black, Hispanic or from lower socioeconomic status.