The vaccine against the human papillomavirus, used to protect young girls from cancer of the cervix of the uterus, would also protect them against cancers of the throat and mouth, according to a study published in PLOS One.
Intended to protect against papillomavirus infections and helping to reduce the risk of cervical cancer, would the HPV vaccine have hidden virtues? According to a study by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) published in PLOS One on Friday, the vaccine against HPV Cervarix, would also protect young girls against oropharyngeal tumors, that is to say those located in mouth and throat.
Dr Rolando Herrero and his colleagues in the Costa Rican trial of HPV vaccination for cervical cancer prevention looked at the vaccine’s impact on other anatomical sites, including the oral cavity. In 2004 and 2005, 7,466 healthy women between the ages of 18 and 25 were vaccinated with Cervarix. Oral swabs were available for 5,840 participants. And the results are amazing! While the rate of protection against cervical infections was 72%, analysis showed that vaccination reduced the prevalence of oral HPV16 / 18 infections by 93.3%, four years after vaccination. . Fifteen cases of women with these cancers were thus detected in the group of participants who had not benefited from the vaccine. Conversely, only one case of oral cancer caused by HPV infection was observed in the group of vaccinated women. What to give ideas to the Costa Rican researcher.
“The vaccine appears to provide strong protection against oral HPV infections for the viral subtypes that cause most cancers of the oropharynx, comments Dr. Herrero,” in a statement. And the scientist added, “If similar results are found in men, vaccinating boys could become an important public health measure because oropharyngeal cancers and other HPV-related cancers (such as anal cancer) are 4 times more common in men ”.
Most head and neck cancers are associated with heavy alcohol and tobacco consumption, but around 30% are associated with HPV infection, linked to sexual practices such as oral sex. In addition, the link between oral sex and throat cancer has already been demonstrated. In 2010, the US Federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) observed “a slow epidemic of oral cancers in the United States and in northern European countries caused by sexually transmitted papillomaviruses. . »The IARC recalls that in the USA, over the past 20 years, the detection rate of HPV in cancers of the oral zone has increased from 16% to 70%. According to these specialists there could be more cases of throat or mouth cancer linked to HPV than cervical cancer.
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