FDA approves HPV vaccine for adults over 25

The Food and Drug Administration has approved the use of human papillomavirus or HPV vaccine in people over 25, saying there is evidence that even older people can be protected from cancer with the vaccine.

The HPV vaccine protects against various types of cancer, including cervical cancer, penile cancer, and head and neck cancer. It is normally given to adolescents and pre-teens.

"Today's approval represents an important opportunity to help prevent HPV-related diseases and cancers in a broader age group," said Dr. Peter Marks, FDA, in a statement. , Friday.

There is no evidence that the vaccine protects a person after they have been infected with HPV, which is an extremely common sexually transmitted infection.

"About 79 million Americans are currently infected with HPV," says the Center for Disease Control and Prevention. "About 14 million people get the infection each year.HPV is so common that most sexually active men and women will have at least one type of HPV at some point in their lives."

This is why the vaccine is normally given to children 11 years of age and older and adults in their early twenties. Multiple doses must be finished before people begin any sexual activity.

And that means for most Americans, at age 25. "Most people have been sexually active and exposed to HPV in their mid-twenties," said Dr. Trey Leath, a gynecological oncologist at the University of Alabama at the Comprehensive Cancer Center in Birmingham.

But there are still people who could benefit from the vaccine, sold under the brand name Gardasil, said Leath.

"Some people are sexually active only late," he said. Some people who have longstanding monogamous relationships and become sexually active after a divorce or widow can also benefit from the vaccine, he said.

In addition, the current vaccine protects against nine different strains of HPV, seven of which can cause cancer and two of the genital warts vectors.

"A person may be exposed to one, two or three types of high-risk HPV, but not all types," said Leath.

According to the FDA, studies have shown that even vaccination of people over 25 years old could prevent many cases of cancer.

In a study of approximately 3,200 women aged 27 to 45 years, followed for an average of 3.5 years, Gardasil was 88% effective in preventing … persistent infection, genital warts, lesions Pre-cancerous vulvar and vaginal precancerous cervical lesions and cervical cancer related to the types of HPV covered by the vaccine, "said the FDA.

The CDC estimates that HPV causes 31,500 cancer cases a year.

In the past, cervical cancer was one of the most common cancers among American women. Screening has reduced this number, but cervical cancer is diagnosed in 13,000 US women each year and will kill more than 4,000 of them, according to the American Cancer Society. .

In addition, HPV causes cancer of the head and neck. "Each year, about 11,600 people in the United States are diagnosed with HPV-induced oropharyngeal cancer," says the CDC.

FDA approval means that the manufacturer of Gardasil, Merck, can market the vaccine to the older group. This does not necessarily mean that health insurance will pay for it.