HPV vaccine just as effective in men

E-mail | Print | Comments () Posted by Deborah Kotz February 3, 2011 01:04 PM

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The Gardasil vaccine -- which protects against a virus that causes cervical cancer in women -- appears to be just as effective in preventing genital warts in men as it is in women, according to a study published Wednesday in the New England Journal of Medicine.

The study, funded by Gardasil manufacturer Merck, involved about 4,000 boys and men ages 16 to 26 who received either Gardasil or a placebo. In those who hadn't been previously exposed to the sexually transmitted human papillomavirus, the vaccine was 90 percent effective at protecting against warts caused by four strains of the virus that the vaccine protects against. The vaccine's efficacy dropped to 66 percent in those already exposed to HPV.

Those efficacy rates are similar to the rates seen in women.

This could be one more selling point on the road to getting parents to accept HPV vaccination for boys as well as for girls. Public health experts contend that the only way to really slash cervical cancer-causing HPV infections in women -- some 80 percent of whom become infected during their lifetime -- is to vaccinate both genders.

Another selling point was the approval of Gardasil by the US Food and Drug Administration last December for the prevention of anal cancer. HPV infections have been associated with the vast majority of anal cancers and are also thought to be responsible for many cases of throat and esophageal cancers. And these cancers, unlike cervical cancer, occur in men as well as women.

The main drawback to Gardasil is that it protects against only some HPV strains that trigger cancer. About 30 percent of cervical cancer cases are caused by other strains not in the vaccine.

The other HPV vaccine on the market, Cervarix, appears to offer some cross protection against other cancer-causing HPV strains. But, unlike Gardasil, it doesn't protect against strains that cause genital warts.

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about the blog

Daily Dose gives you the latest consumer health news and advice from Boston-area experts. Deborah Kotz is a former reporter for US News and World Report. Write her at dailydose@globe.com. Follow her on Twitter at @debkotz2.

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