It’s a common misperception that the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine is intended only for females. However, new data makes it alarmingly clear why both boys and girls should receive this critical cancer-preventing vaccination.
What replaced cervical cancer as the most common cancer associated with HPV infection in the United States? Oropharyngeal (head/neck) squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) in men, according to the August 24, 2018 edition of the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR) by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
From 1999–2015, cervical cancer incidence rates decreased by 1.6% per year on average, going from 13,125 in 1999 to 11,788 in 2015. During this same period, oropharyngeal SCC incidence rates increased by 2.7% per year on average among men, more than doubling from 6,966 in 1999 to 15,479 in 2015. See Figure 1.
The decline in cervical cancer from 1999 to 2015 is the continuation of a favorable trend since the 1960s when cervical-vaginal screening increased significantly as Americans endorsed the Pap test. The incidence of cervical cancer plummeted from 21.6 per 100,000 women in 1969 to 10.4 per 100,000 in 1990. According to the latest CDC report, the rate of cervical cancer further declined to 7.2 per 100,000 women in 2015.
Early detection through routine screening has reduced the death rates from cervical (via Pap test), breast (via mammogram), and other cancers. Currently, there is no routine screening test for HPV-associated diseases other than cervical cancer. Oral dental screening may detect cancer or precancerous lesions that may lead to oropharyngeal SCC at an early stage. However, it is difficult to determine from a visual examination which abnormal tissues in the mouth are worthy of concern. The average person routinely has conditions existing in their mouths that mimic the appearance of pre-cancerous changes, which could lead to unnecessary biopsies and invasive testing.
To prevent HPV-related cancers and other ailments, HPV vaccination was added to the routine immunization program for US females in 2006 and the program for US males in 2011. See Figure 2. But as of 2017, only 49 percent of adolescents (53.1% of females; 44.3% of males) received all the recommended doses to complete the HPV vaccination series. That is less than a 5% increase from 2016 when 43.4% of adolescents (49.5% of females; 37.5% of males) were up to date with the HPV vaccination series.
The combination of comparably lower vaccination rates with a lack of screening tools is helping fuel the oropharyngeal SCC epidemic among males. Continuing at its current growth rate, the annual new cases of oropharyngeal SCC in men could reach 17,685 by 2020 and 20,204 by 2025.
The CDC estimates that nearly 80 million Americans are currently infected with some type of HPV, with about 14 million people newly infected each year. If your preteen (boys and girls) hasn’t been vaccinated against this cancer-causing virus yet, talk to their doctor or nurse about getting it for them as soon as possible and please read my passionate plea to parents of preteens.