New research shows that the HPV vaccine protects against cancer in men as well as women, yet fewer boys than girls in the United States are getting vaccinated.
The HPV vaccine was developed to prevent cervical cancer in women, and experts credit it with helping to reduce the incidence of cervical cancer, along with screening. Evidence that vaccination protects against HPV-related cancers in men has been slow to emerge, but new research suggests that vaccinated men have lower rates of oral and pharyngeal cancer compared with unvaccinated men. These cancers are more than twice as common in men as in women.
In the study, researchers compared 3.4 million people of the same age (half vaccinated and half unvaccinated) in a large survey health care data set.
As expected, vaccinated women had a lower risk of developing cervical cancer, at least for five years after getting vaccinated. Men also benefited: vaccinated men had a lower risk of developing all HPV-related cancers, including anal cancer, penile cancer, and cancer of the mouth and throat.
We think the full benefit of the vaccine will actually be seen over the next 20 to 30 years, said Dr. Joseph Curry, a head and neck surgeon at the Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center in Philadelphia and co-author of the study. What we’re showing here is the early stages of benefit.
Findings from this study and a second study were published Thursday by the American Society of Clinical Oncology and will be discussed next month at its annual meeting in Chicago. The second study found that men continue to lag behind women in getting the HPV vaccine, even as vaccination rates are rising.
HPV (Human Papillomavirus) is very common and is transmitted through sex. Most HPV infections do not show symptoms and go away without treatment. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, about 37,000 cases progress to cancer each year.
In the United States, the HPV vaccine has been recommended for girls ages 11 and 12 since 2006, and for boys of that age since 2011. A catch-up shot is recommended for those who have not been vaccinated up to age 26.
In the second study, researchers looked at self- and parent-reported HPV vaccination rates among preteens and young adults in a large government survey. From 2011 to 2020, vaccination rates among women increased from 38% to 49%, and among men increased from 8% to 36%.
Although HPV vaccination rates among young men have increased more than fourfold over the past decade, vaccination rates among young men are still lower than those among women, said study co-author Dr. Dang Nguyen of the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas.
Parents of boys and girls should know about HPV vaccine If you get the vaccine, you lower your cancer risk, said Jasmine Tiro of the University of Chicago Medicine Comprehensive Cancer Center, who was not involved in the study. And young men who haven’t been vaccinated can still get the shot.
It’s really important that teens get the vaccine before they’re exposed to the virus, she said.
