<p>I just went to a memorial service on Saturday night. This 46 year old man died from throat cancer caused by hpv. So sad. He leaves behind 2 young daughters.
Enough said. Get the vaccine because yes, it can happen to you.</p>
<p>Here is a link to an article in WebMD last summer
[Can</a> HPV Vaccine Stop Throat Cancer?](<a href=“http://children.webmd.com/vaccines/news/20110623/can-hpv-vaccine-stop-throat-cancer]Can”>FAQ: Children's Vaccines)</p>
<p>"For two years, the ACIP has been mulling whether to recommend the HPV vaccine for boys. This would help prevent cervical cancer in unvaccinated women. It also would prevent HPV-related anal cancer and genital warts in both men and women, as well as HPV-related cancer of the *****.</p>
<p>But HPV causes anal cancer and penile cancer far less often than it causes cervical cancer, and if enough girls were to get the HPV vaccine – about 50% – it wouldn’t be cost-effective to vaccinate boys.</p>
<p>Throat cancer is rapidly changing this scenario.</p>
<p>Throat Cancer Tipping Scales Toward HPV Vaccination of Boys
At yesterday’s meeting, the ACIP heard a disturbing report from Aimee Kreimer, PhD, an expert in head and neck cancer at the National Cancer Institute.</p>
<p>“At some point … it is projected that there will be the same incidence of OP cancer in men as cervical cancer in women,” Kreimer said. “If current trends continue, OP cancer in men will pass cervical cancer in 2025.”</p>
<p>And HPV is to blame. Only a few decades ago, the major risk factors for throat cancer were smoking and alcohol. Not any more. In the five-year period of 1984-1989, only 16% of OP cancers were linked to HPV. By 2000-2004, HPV was behind 75% of OP cancers."</p>
<p>Tee hee…nothing funny about this issue, but the censor caught ***** but not penile.</p>
<p>Wow, this is scarey! I wonder if HPV has changed over time to become a much more virulent virus. I’ll have to take it more seriously, now. I’ll talk to both S and D about getting vaccinated.</p>
<p>^The scientists I know believe that oral sex has become more popular, not that HPV is more virulent.</p>
<p>[CDC</a> - Reports of Health Concerns Following HPV Vaccination - Vaccine Safety](<a href=“http://www.cdc.gov/vaccinesafety/vaccines/hpv/gardasil.html]CDC”>CDC - 001 This page has moved - Vaccine Safety)</p>
<p>[CDC</a> - Human Papillomavirus (HPV) - Vaccine](<a href=“http://www.cdc.gov/hpv/vaccine.html]CDC”>http://www.cdc.gov/hpv/vaccine.html)</p>
<p>Safety and age limit recommendations.</p>
<p>Glad to find this thread. Took 17-year-old son to physician today for routine check-up and he recommended the 3 shot series - start now so that it can be completed before he leaves for college.</p>
<p>I am really on the fence here. I obviously like the idea of protection from sexually transmitted diseases and cancers. But - my concern is that we don’t know the long term affects of this drug and I don’t like the way the manufacturer has pushed it so hard. It’s hard to discern true risks and benefits when so much money is at stake.</p>
<p>And there have been some side effects - as I am sure there are with any injection. I’m finding this a tough decision to make.</p>
<p><a href=“CDC - 001 This page has moved - Vaccine Safety”>CDC - 001 This page has moved - Vaccine Safety;
<p>RVM, I hear you. It is a tough decision.</p>
<p>Bumping this up in case anyone has any more recent info on this. The ped recommended this for S, I had originally not been a fan even though I am pro-vaccine in general, because I thought it only protected against some strains that cause cervical cancer and even so, regular pap tests can catch cervical cancer early in females. It just didn’t seem like the same situation as more highly contagious diseases like whooping cough and measles etc.</p>
<p>Doc said one of the main benefits is this protects males from HPV which has no cure, if I understood him correctly? I am not sure what the long term ramifications of HPV infection are other than the risk of infecting your partner. I think I want him to have the series, I just need a little more info to make me more comfortable.</p>
<p>This site has been updated, with more safety info:</p>
<p>[CDC</a> - HPV Vaccine Safety - Vaccine Safety](<a href=“http://www.cdc.gov/vaccinesafety/Vaccines/HPV/Index.html]CDC”>http://www.cdc.gov/vaccinesafety/Vaccines/HPV/Index.html)</p>
<p>CDC continues to recommend.</p>
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<p>I don’t understand that logic that if it can’t protect ALL strains, it’s not worth getting. Some protection is not better than none? You’d rather address cancer once it happens rather than prevent it to begin with?</p>
<p>Above not really directed at you, but it’s something I hear a lot about.</p>
<p>In addition to cervical cancer, it can prevent strains which cause anal cancer. After seeing what Farrah Fawcett went through over that disease, I’d definitely consider the vaccine a good shot at preventing some misery.</p>
<p>As to boys, cancers of the tonsils/throat/esophagus are increasing, and there is some evidence that males who perform oral sex on infected females are at risk for this. Head and neck cancers are horrific.</p>
<p>Michael Douglas has just put this subject into the news when he suggested that oral sex might have played a part in his cancer rather than cigarette smoking or excess alcohol consumption. I don’t know if he was trying to be inflammatory, but he’s got people talking.</p>
<p>And I don’t understand how they “know” that a specific head and neck cancer was caused by HPV. Is it process of elimination if it occurs in someone who doesn’t drink or smoke? Or do the cancerous cells look different if the patient has HPV?</p>
<p>^I heard a doctor on CNN say that they can tell by doing a biopsy of the tumor.</p>
<p>I should also say that if oral sex with an infected female can cause head and neck cancers, it would also logically follow that oral sex with an infected male could also increase the risk.</p>
<p>Basically each kind of cancer has a different cell profile. When say, a cancer metastasizes from breast cancer to somewhere else those cancer cells in the new location still look like breast cancer cells. Or at least that’s the way I understand what my dh tells me.</p>
<p>My understanding is that the biopsy per se will reveal or confirm dysplasia and will provide a glimpse in the gravity of the cell lesions by ranking the CIN from I to III. </p>
<p>The genotyping of the HPV is obtained through DNA analysis, usually through an amplification process and polymerase chain reaction. A different method relies on the Digene Hybrid Capture. The various subtypes might or might not show, depending on the type of testing as none cover the entire subtype spectrum with varying sensitivity and specificity.</p>
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<p>Actually, I was mentioning that in a cost-benefit way. After doing some more reading today, I am more clear about the link to head/neck cancers as being part of the risk. I had read that the majority of people will clear an HPV infection on their own, plus not every strain of HPV is prevented by the vaccine, so I was trying to extrapolate out the benefit vs the “cost” which to me, is a relatively newer vaccine. It’s not as if you can never worry about certain symptoms, or women can skip getting pap tests. </p>
<p>This is a pretty good article someone sent me:</p>
<p>[Oral</a> cancers from HPV such as Michael Douglas? are ‘epidemic’ among men, but preventable through HPV vaccine: experts - NY Daily News](<a href=“http://www.nydailynews.com/life-style/health/oral-cancers-hpv-epidemic-men-preventable-article-1.1361894]Oral”>Oral cancers from HPV such as Michael Douglas’ are ‘epidemic’ among men, but preventable through HPV vaccine: experts – New York Daily News)</p>
<p>right mathmom – if it’s metastasized, it still “looks like” where it came from – the reason I’m asking is H was diagnosed with head and neck cancer in '96. At that time, his doctors were positive he must have gotten it from smoking and drinking, even though he was never a heavy smoker/drinker. I don’t know if they save part of the tumor forever (?) but if they did, then there might be something to biopsy (are tumors like Italian bread – they freeze beautifully?)</p>
<p>I’m wondering if it was HPV-related instead. And if it was HPV-related, what if anything I should be doing differently…</p>
<p>My understanding is that the four strains of HPV that Gardasil protects against are the ones that cause approximately 70% of cancers. It’s analogous to the flu shot, which is designed to protect you against the most common virus strains.</p>
<p>The long-term problems aren’t really safety; they are the need for a booster shot approximately five to ten years later, and the false sense of security. Sexually active women still need to get annual Pap smears, HPV vaccine or not, and cervical cancer is very easily treatable if caught early.</p>
<p>The very rough cost-benefit analysis is $1 million per life saved. (Very rough.)</p>
<p>The linked article contains this gem:</p>
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<p>Nothing could be farther from the truth.</p>
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<p>And the need for condom use still needs to be stressed re: safe sex and health risks.</p>
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<p>No kidding. I can’t believe they said that. Even the literature accompanying the vaccine doesn’t make those claims. WTH?</p>