HPV Vaccination for Boys? Talking Economic Sense

摘要

Vaccination against human papilloma virus (HPV) is the first example of vaccination registered for prevention of a cancer. HPV virus infection has one of the strongest cause-effect relationships with cervical cancer (CC) ever seen in related cancer research. More than 100 HPV types exist, but only a few have been proved oncogenic. Two vaccines against HPV are marketed at present. The quadrivalent vaccine protects against types 6,11,16, and 18 and has indications for CC and genital warts (GWs), while the bivalent one protects against types 16 and 18 and is indicated only for CC. On average, efficacy is high (>95%) for both vaccines in preventing type-specific high-grade and low-grade cervical intra-epithelial neoplasia (CIN), vulval and vaginal intraepithelial lesions, and slightly lower in preventing other genital HPV-related cancers and GWs for the quadrivalent vaccine only; the longest follow-up is 7 years so far [1], although a much longer duration is expected. The health authorities of most Western European countries introduced HPV vaccination quite rapidly once it was approved, but only for adolescent girls [2]. Despite the rapid introduction, however, coverage is still unsatisfactory in many jurisdictions.