HPV vaccination in male to prevent uterine cervical cancer

The origin of cancer of the cervix uteri is directly linked to a chronic infection of selected (so called “high risk”) types of human papilloma virus (HPV).  The virus is readily transmitted from men to women by the sexual intercourse and greatly affects the risk of disease in women. It is for this reason that understanding the nature of HPV in men is of crucial public health importance and can be used in modeling to establish whether vaccinating men against HPV would be cost effective. An Article published by Professor Anna R Giuliano and colleagues, of the H Lee Moffitt Cancer Center and Research Institute, Tampa, FL, USA, in the prestigous medical journal the Lancet  shows that approximately 50% of men from a sample of the general population are infected with the virus. The study analysed 1159 men aged 18 to 70 years (mean 32 years) from the USA, Brazil, and Mexico, all of whom were HIV negative and had no history of cancer. They were assessed every six months for an average of more than two years. The incidence of a new genital HPV infection with any HPV type was 38.4 per 1000 person months. The chances of cancer-causing (oncogenic) HPV infection was 2.4 times higher from men who had had many female partners compared with no partners or just one partner. The authors say: 'We noted no association with age and incidence of any, oncogenic, or non-oncogenic HPV types, although the probability of clearing these infections increased with age." They conclude: "The incidence of genital HPV infection in men was high and relatively constant across age groups in Brazil, Mexico, and the USA. The results from this study provide much needed data about the incidence and clearance of HPV infection in men; these data are essential for the development of realistic cost-effectiveness models for male HPV vaccination internationally". HPV vaccination of men will protect not only them but will also have great implications for their sexual partner. Vaccination of both females and males could represent the best way to fight uterine cervical cancer.