Efficacy of a HPV vaccine against anal HPV infection among young women

January 01, 0001

Efficacy of a HPV vaccine against anal HPV infection among young women

Anal cancer remains rare (incidence of about 1.5 per 100,000 women yearly), but rates are increasing in many countries. Human papillomavirus (HPV) 16 and 18 infections cause most cases of anal cancer. The researchers from the USA, Costa Rica, The Netherlands and France assessed efficacy of an AS04-adjuvanted HPV 16 and HPV 18 vaccine against anal infection with HPV 16, HPV 18, or both (HPV 16/18). Women from Costa Rica were registered between June 28, 2004, and Dec 21, 2005, in a randomised double-blind controlled trial that was designed to assess vaccine efficacy against persistent cervical HPV 16/18 infections and associated precancerous lesions. All women who attended the final blinded study visit and consented to anal specimen collection were included in the analysis (4210 of 6352 eligible women).

In the restricted cohort (women who were negative for both cervical HPV 16 and HPV 18 DNA and who were HPV 16 and HPV 18 seronegative before enrolment, HPV naive), vaccine efficacy against anal HPV 16/18 infection was 83·6%, which was similar to vaccine efficacy against cervical HPV 16/18 infection (87.9%). Safety issues were not addressed in the current analysis.

The researchers concluded: "The AS04-adjuvanted vaccine affords strong protection against anal HPV infection, particularly among women more likely to be HPV naive at enrolment."

A fascinating extra benefit of vaccination, which makes sense.

For the full abstract, click here.

The Lancet Oncology 12(9):862-870, September 2011 © 2011 Elsevier Limited
Efficacy of a bivalent HPV 16/18 vaccine against anal HPV 16/18 infection among young women: a nested analysis within the Costa Rica Vaccine Trial. Aimée R Kreimer, Paula González, Hormuzd A Katki et al for the CVT Vaccine Group. Correspondence to Aimée Kreimer: [email protected]

Category: D. Digestive, X. Female Genital System, Breast. Keywords: HPV, vaccine, anal, nested analysis, randomised double- blind controlled trial, journal watch.
Synopsis edited by Dr Stephen Wilkinson, Melbourne, Australia. Posted on Global Family Doctor 30 September 2011

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