Study: HPV Vaccine May Prevent Throat Cancer

A vaccine against the human papilloma virus (HPV) may help prevent mouth and throat cancers, a new study suggests. Infection with HPV infection causes most cervical cancers. The HVP vaccine is known to help prevent cervical cancer. HPV infection is also a risk factor for oral cancers. Researchers randomly divided 7,466 women ages 18 to 25 into 2 groups. One group got the HPV vaccine, Cervarix. The other group got the hepatitis A vaccine. The study lasted 4 years; 5,840 women completed the study. Researchers took samples of cells from the women’s throats at the beginning and end of the study. Only one woman who was vaccinated had infected cells at the end of the study. Fifteen of the women who were not vaccinated were infected with HPV. The study was published in the journal PLOS. HealthDay wrote about it June 19.