HPV Summit Highlights Importance of HPV Vaccine for Cancer Prevention
National Cancer Institute Acting Director Douglas Lowy, MD, served as keynote speaker of the two-day summit hosted by The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center
Nearly 150 cancer control/prevention researchers and public health leaders from the National Cancer Institute (NCI), Centers for Disease Control, American Cancer Society and leading NCI-designated comprehensive cancer centers gathered in Columbus, Ohio, from June 30-July 1 to share best practices about what does and doesn’t work in increasing human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination rates.
The HPV Summit was hosted by The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center – James Cancer Hospital and Solove Research Institute (OSUCCC – James).
Douglas Lowy, MD, acting director of the National Cancer Institute (NCI), served as keynote speaker at the summit and talked about the potential place for HPV vaccine research in the national Cancer Moonshot initiative. He also updated research that is under way to develop the next version of the HPV vaccine.
Scope of HPV-Associated Cancers in the U.S.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), HPV infections are responsible for approximately 27,000 new cancer diagnoses each year in the United States. An estimated 79 million people are currently infected with the HPV virus, and an additional 17 million will contract the virus this year.
Despite this rise in HPV exposure and known link to numerous cancers, vaccination rates across the United States remain low, with less than 40 percent of girls and approximately 21 percent of boys receiving the recommended three-dose vaccine. In Ohio, 35 percent of girls and 23 percent of boys have received the three-dose vaccine.
HPV Summit Details
Topics discussed at the summit included:
• Action steps to accelerate research within the context of data-sharing policies and public policy regulations, as well as working with public health immunization programs
• Best practices acquired through partnering with public health jurisdictions to increase HPV vaccination among adolescents
• Strategies for policymakers who influence requiring mandatory HPV vaccination for entering public schools
• The HPV vaccine’s impact on other cancers
“To increase HPV vaccination rates, we must change the perception of the HPV vaccine from something that prevents a sexually transmitted disease to a vaccine that prevents cancer,” says Electra Paskett, PhD, MSPH, co-director of the Cancer Control Program at the OSUCCC – James and a member of the National Institutes of Health’s National Cancer Advisory Board. “Every parent should ask the question: ‘If there were a vaccine I could give my children that would prevent them from developing six different cancers, would I give it to them?’ The answer would be a resounding yes—and we would have a dramatic decrease in HPV-related cancers across the globe.”
This group issued a consensus statement in January 2016 regarding the importance of HPV vaccination. It expects to develop a second statement, based on discussion in this meeting, that addresses changing public norms and policy with recommendations to the global medical community and public health entities on specific actions to increase HPV vaccination rates.
