Vaccine News: HPV Vaccine For Cancer Prevention Supported By Top US Cancer Centers

Top American leading cancer research and treatment facilities are supporting the vaccine used to prevent the human papillomavirus (HPV).

Sixty-nine of these National Cancer Institute-designated centers  have made a joint statement that recommends girls and boys between ages 11 and 12 receive three doses of the HPV vaccine. This is the first time when the cancer centers have issued a joint statement collectively.

Among the influential organizations part of this group are included City of Hope Comprehensive Cancer Center, Fox Chase Cancer Center, Mayo Clinic Cancer Center, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, and St. Jude Research Children's Hospital.

The statement of the National Cancer Institute (NCI)-designated Cancer Centers declares that the low rates of HPV vaccination as a serious public health threat. The joint statement is a "call to action" that points out the fact that HPV vaccination represents an opportunity to prevent many of these cases of cancer.

According to U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the rates for HPV vaccination are still low in the United States. As many as 6 out of 10 boys and 4 out of 10 girls are unvaccinated for HPV. In Europe, for example in the United Kingdom, rates of coverage for HPV vaccination were already over 80 percent back in the year 2010, according to a report from the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control .

The CDC estimates there are around 14 million new HPV infections each year in the U.S. and 27,000 patients are diagnosed each year with related cancers. Approximately 79 million people are currently HPV infected in the United Stated alone. HPV infections can lead to anal, cervical, and oropharyngeal cancers.

According to Newsweek, many of the U.S. cancer centers taking part in this call to action issued their own statements as well. For instance, the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center declared that they hope the joint statement will effect change in public health. Their statement added that the aim is to reach 80-percent nationwide for HPV vaccination rates.