| ■ Cervical Cancer Vaccine Approved | 06.06.15 |
| June 8, 2006 -- Gardasil, a vaccine against the virus that causes most cervical cancers, most cancers of the vagina and vulva, and genital warts, won FDA approval today. "FDA approval of the HPV vaccine, the first vaccine targeted specifically to preventing cancer, is one of the most important advances in women's health in recent years," states the American Cancer Society in a news release. The vaccine protects against infection from four strains of the human papilloma virus, or HPV. Two of these strains, HPV-16 and HPV-18, account for about 70% of cervical cancers. The other two strains covered by the vaccine, HPV- 6 and HPV-11, account for about 90% of genitalwarts. "Gardasil is a major health breakthrough -- the first vaccine specifically designed to prevent cancer -- and is approved to prevent not onlycervical cancer but also genital warts," says Kevin Ault, MD, leader of Gardasil clinical trials at Atlanta's Emory University, in a Merck news release. The vaccine is approved for 9- to 26-year-old girls and women. While it is almost always females who get HPV-related cancer, the virus is spread by both men and women during sexual contact. And both men and women are susceptible to genital and rectal warts, which can lead to cervical changes and abnormal Pap smears in women. Gardasil is not approved for use by boys and men. Clinical trials evaluating Gardasil vaccination of boys and men are underway, a Merck spokesperson tells WebMD. |