FDA approves vaccine to prevent cervical cancer
Last Thursday the FDA approved the first vaccine to help prevent cervical cancer. It is called Gardasil and can prevent cancer and other diseases such as genital warts caused by Human Papillomavirus (HPV) types 6, 11, 16 and 18.
Worldwide 300,000 women die from cervical cancer, 4,000 women in the US. Around half of adults in the US are infected with HPV however it is mostly harmless.
Unfortunately it is only been approved for women and girls from ages 9-26. Apparently it is only effective if given before a person has been infected with the virus.
Gardasil is given as a series of three shots over a six month period, which cost about $360 or more.
Women who get the vaccine still need to have regular cervical cancer screening since the vaccine doesn’t stop all cancer-causing HPV strains.
Meanwhile studies are being done to test Gardasil in older women and in men.
Gardasil is made by Merck & Co. Inc.
For more information see:
FDA Approves Gardasil Cervical Cancer Vaccine,
FDA Approves First Vaccine Against HPV, Leading Cause of Cervical Cancer or Human Papillomavirus (HPV) Recombinant Vaccine Approved by FDA.
Also a great discussion about how Focus on the Family is against the vaccine even though it could save thousands of live can be read here: Focus on the Family Opposes HPV vaccine
(Technorati Tags: cervical cancer, Gardasil, Human Papillomavirus, HPV, virus, Merck, vaccine)
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4 Responses to 'FDA approves vaccine to prevent cervical cancer'
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on June 12th, 2006 at 10:40 pm
Thank you for the link.
Yes, it is unfortunate that for the time being there are no vaccines for people that have already been infected with HPV, but I wouldn’t entirely lose hope. I imagine that the companies producing the vaccine are starting in their studies with a cohort of individuals for which the vaccine is most likely to be successful — ie. the uninfected. That doesn’t mean it won’t be successful for women already infected, it just means they haven’t tried yet. And physicians, depending on preliminary data, could still prescribe it off-label if the results suggest it could help.
on June 12th, 2006 at 10:55 pm
Actually I could have sworn a few months ago when I read about that they said it could be used even if someone was infected. Either way, I may very well not be, but I’m still above the age range. Sometimes though I’d rather wait a while before trying something new anyway - problems usually show up much later after people are already using something.
on July 4th, 2006 at 3:44 pm
Check out this introduction article on Vaccine:
Vaccine
on August 5th, 2006 at 9:04 am
If FDA has given approval there should be no doubt about the medicine.