What Parents Should Know about Cervical Cancer and the HPV Vaccine

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Jan 21, 2014, 06:00 ET

By the National Cancer Institute

Editor's Note: The following article is part of the monthly Lifelines education and awareness print series that the National Cancer Institute provides to African American news and information outlets

BETHESDA, Md., Jan. 21, 2014 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- We can vaccinate our children against chicken pox, measles, and the flu. And more recently a vaccine has become available that lets parents give their children a new leg up against disease—a vaccine to prevent some types of cancer.

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We know that a virus called human papillomavirus (HPV) causes cervical cancer and some other cancers. HPV is the most common sexually transmitted infection in the United States. Most HPV infections go away on their own, but long-lasting infections with certain HPV types can lead to cancer.

The good news is that vaccines are available that prevent infection with the HPV types that cause most cervical cancers and other HPV-associated cancers. Vaccination against HPV is especially important for African Americans and Latinos, because these communities have a higher rate of cervical cancer than other populations.

Two HPV vaccines are on the market, Gardasil® and Cervarix®; both are administered in three doses over the course of 6 months. Both vaccines prevent infection with the two most important cancer-causing types of HPV, and Gardasil® also prevents infection with the HPV types that cause most genital warts. Gardasil® is the most commonly available vaccine in the United States. It should be given to both girls and boys between the ages of 11 to 12 (although girls as young as 9 can get the vaccine, as can older boys and girls and young adults who have not previously been vaccinated).

Some parents may feel uncomfortable giving their children an HPV vaccine because the vaccine is used to prevent a sexually transmitted infection. Many parents are understandably hesitant to even think about their children being sexually active. However, the vaccines need to be given before first infection with HPV in order to prevent cancer, so it is important that your child be vaccinated before he or she becomes sexually active. Your child's doctor can give you more information about HPV vaccine options and timing.

Although researchers have made some amazing progress in reducing cancer deaths, cases of some cancers related to HPV have continued to rise. Too few American girls are getting the HPV vaccine. January is Cervical Cancer Awareness Month—a good time to learn more about vaccination opportunities for your children.

For more information about the HPV vaccine and cervical cancer, you can visit http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/factsheet/Prevention/HPV-vaccine

http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/wyntk/cervix

NCI leads the National Cancer Program and the NIH effort to dramatically reduce the burden of cancer and improve the lives of cancer patients and their families, through research into prevention and cancer biology, the development of new interventions, and the training and mentoring of new researchers. For more information about cancer, please visit the NCI web site at www.cancer.gov or call NCI's Cancer Information Service at 1-800-4-CANCER (1-800-422-6237). More articles and videos in the culturally relevant Lifelines series are available at http://www.cancer.gov/lifelines

SOURCE National Cancer Institute