A Vaccine to Prevent Cervical Cancer?

If you’re the parent of a young girl, this new tool can help you protect her

A brighter future

As a cancer specialist, Richard Boulay, M.D., knows how valuable the new HPV vaccine will be for his daughters gener-ation. Lauren (center), age 12, will be vaccinated now, and Carolyn, 8, when she’s a little older.

More than 9,000 women in the United States are diagnosed with cervical cancer each year, and a third of them will die from it. But a new vaccine—recommended for pre-adolescent girls—should dramatically reduce those numbers, says Richard Boulay, M.D., gynecologic oncologist (women’s reproductive cancer specialist) with Lehigh Valley Hospital and Health Network.

The cause of most cervical cancers is the human papillomavirus (HPV). Spread through skin-to-skin and sexual contact, HPV comes in more than 100 types. The new vaccine, called Gardasil, immunizes against four of them: the two (HPV 16 and 18) thought to cause 70 percent of cervical cancers, and two others (HPV 6 and 11) that cause 90 percent of genital warts cases.

Federal experts recommend that all 11- and 12-year-old girls be vaccinated. Of course, cervical cancer is probably the last thing on your preteen’s mind—the disease rarely strikes before age 20. “But the vaccine is most effective before young women are exposed to HPV,” says adolescent medicine specialist Barbara Katz, M.D., of Lehigh Valley Hospital and Health Network. “And 80 percent of women are exposed to this virus within five years of becoming sexually active.”

Though the vaccine is a major step against cervical cancer, it won’t eliminate the disease. It also won’t reduce the need for Pap tests to detect abnormal cells in the cervix, says Katz’s colleague, gynecologist Kristin Friel, M.D. “Not all cervical cancers can be traced to HPV, and the vaccine doesn’t cover every HPV type,” she says. “So all sexually active women need regular Pap tests.”

The vaccine is administered in a series of three shots over six months. Merck is charging $120 per dose, or $360 total. Actual costs at physician offices may vary.

Want to Know More about the HPV vaccine? Visit Ask Our Expert or attend our class over on the right. Click here for what to tell your daughter about new HPV vaccine.

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