Should Boys Also Be Vaccinated Against HPV?

In 2006, Gardasil, the first vaccination to prevent infection from several types of human papilloma virus (HPV), was FDA approved and recommended for use in pre-teen and young adult females. Papillomas are warts, which, for the most part, aren't all that uncommon or dangerous, unless they arise from some of the 40 or so varieties of HPV that are transmitted sexually and lead to genital warts.

HPV and Cancer

Because of the high association between cervical cancer and HPV, the Gardasil vaccine was tested and approved for women. However, since HPV was first linked cancer in the mid-1980s, there has been mounting evidence associating HPV with oral cancers, and increasing interest in approving the vaccine for both men and women.

Should Men and Boys Be Getting the HPV Vaccine?

With genital HPV viruses so closely linked to cervical cancer, men and boys were not even part of the clinical trials completed to approve Gardisil. Yet discussion soon cropped up as to the advantages of vaccinating males as well. Although men obviously cannot develop cervical cancer, they can catch genital HPV and spread the virus, increasing the cervical cancer risk for their female partners.

Men's Willingness to Get HPV Vaccine

A recent study out of University of Florida assessed men's interest in being vaccinated for HPV. The subjects were male college students, and the study results revealed that the men's interest in being vaccinated did not increase after they were informed that getting the vaccine could protect their female partners from cancer.

This is not to say that the subjects were unwilling to get the vaccine. On a scale of 1 to 6, with one representing no interest in getting vaccinated for HPV and six representing a high interest in getting the vaccine, the average score of the men was about 3.9. However, when informed that the vaccine could protect their partners from cervical cancer, their average interest in being vaccinated did not increase.

HPV Vaccine Now Approved for Males

In October of 2009, the HPV vaccine was indicated for males as well as females, and the University of Florida Study provides information that can impact how to successfully market the vaccine to male populations.

Sources

Gillison M., Chaturvedi A., Lowy D. (2008) "HPV prophylactic vaccines and the potential prevention of noncervical cancers in both men and women." Cancer. Vol. 113, no. 10 Suppl.: 3036.

Ryerson A., Peters E., Coughlin S., Chen V., Gillison M., Reichman M., Wu X., Chaturvedi A., Kawaoka K. (2008) "Burden of potentially human papillomavirus-associated cancers of the oropharynx and oral cavity in the US, 1998-2003." Cancer. Vol. 113, no. 10 Suppl. (November 15): 2901.

Dallas News, February 2, 2008. "HPV virus tied cervical cancer causing oral cancer in men."

Florida State University (2009, June 5). "Benefit To Women Not Enough To Sway Men To Get HPV Vaccine." ScienceDaily.