Study of HPV Vaccine Efficacy at Extracervical sites
Human papillomavirus (HPV), the cause of cervical cancer, is recognized as an important cause of some oropharyngeal, vulvar, and anal cancers. Given the many similarities between HPV-related cancers at the cervix and other anatomic sites, researchers are optimistic that the HPV vaccine will provide long-term protection against extra-cervical infections with high vaccine efficacy. In fact, the vaccine has already been shown to confer near-complete protection over four years against oral, vulvar/vaginal, and anal HPV infections for targeted HPV types. To determine whether the HPV 16/18 prophylactic vaccine protects against HPV 16/18 infections in the oral, vulvar, and anal regions over 10 years, DCEG investigators recently completed collection of oral, vulvar, and anal specimens from women in the long-term follow-up phase of the NCI-sponsored Costa Rican community-based randomized phase III clinical trial and plan to test these specimens for presence of HPV DNA. The main aim of this proof-of-principle study is to determine the long-term impact of HPV vaccination in preventing infections at all mucosal epithelial surfaces.
For more information, contact Aimée Kreimer.