Gardasil-9: New HPV vaccine prevents 80% of cervical cancers

New research shows that a new HPV (human papillomavirus) vaccine can prevent more than 80 percent of cervical cancers. The new vaccine is called Gardasil-9. This vaccine is a newer version of a previous HPV vaccine (Gardasil) that has been on the market for years. The new vaccine was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in December 2014.

The new vaccine is a 9-valent human papillomavirus vaccine which protects women from seven types of cancer-causing HPV, including strains 16, 18, 31, 33, 45, 52, and 58. These strains of HPV are known to cause certain cancers such as cervical, vulvar, vaginal, and anal cancer.

The previous HPV vaccine, Gardasil, only protects against two strains of HPV, 16 and 18. These strains are known to cause about two-thirds of cervical cancers in the United States. The new Gardasil-9 vaccine also protects against five additional strains of HPV. These additional strains of HPV are known to cause about 15 percent of cervical cancers in the U.S.

Gardasil-9 is different than Gardasil because the new vaccine is for both girls and boys. Gardasil was originally just for girls. This is important because anal, penile, and oral cancers are linked to HPV. Now that boys can be vaccinated, this can reduce the risk of a boys infecting girls with HPV.

Gardasil-9 is meant for girls and women aged 9 through 26 years old for the prevention of cervical, vulvar, vaginal, and anal cancer caused by HPV types 16, 18, 31, 33, 45, 52, and 58, genital warts caused by HPV types 6 and 11, and other types of precancerous lesions caused by HPV. Gardasil-9 is also meant for boys aged 9 through 15 years old to prevent against anal cancer caused by HPV types 16, 18, 31, 33, 45, 52, and 58, genital warts caused by HPV types 6 and 11, and other types of precancerous lesions caused by HPV.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) studied and analyzed the benefits of the vaccine and published their findings in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

According to the lead researcher, Marc Goodman, MD, this is a major breakthrough for protecting against cervical cancer. He said, “I’ve been working on human papilloma since the 1980s. This is a huge victory.” Dr. Goodman is the director of cancer prevention and genetics at Cedars-Sinai’s Samuel Oschin Comprehensive Cancer Institute.

It is recommended that children get the HPV vaccine around 11 or 12 years old. The vaccine is available past that age, however, it may not be as effective after a person has already been infected with HPV.  Clinical trials are currently being done to find a vaccine for women who already have some form of HPV. For now, the best way to prevent HPV or any of the associated cancers is to get regular pap smears, practice safe sex, and get your child vaccinated.

HPV Most Common STD

HPV is the most common sexually transmitted infection in the U.S. In fact, it is so common that most sexually active men and women will get at least one type of HPV at some point in their lives, according to the CDC. Currently, there are about 79 million Americans infected with HPV, and about 14 million people become newly infected each year. It causes almost every type of cervical cancer and five percent of all cancers.

More than 12,000 U.S. women are get cervical cancer each year, and about 4,000 women die from the disease each year. Fortunately, the number of cervical cancer cases has gone down over the past few decades because of women getting regular pap tests. Having regular pap tests can detect precancerous growths that can cause cervical cancer.

When should women start getting regular pap tests? Women ages 21 to 29 should get a pap test every three years, while women ages 30 to 65 should get one every five years. For women who are older than 65, pap tests are no longer recommended if they have not had any pre-cancers detected from regular testing in the past 20 years.

While cervical cancer is treatable if it is caught early enough, having a vaccine to prevent it is certainly superior to being treated for it.