Adding to our collection of posts about Gardasil and the HPV vaccine is the news that HPV is one of two viral links to lung cancer. Two new studies suggest that viruses - specifically, HPV and measles - can significantly boost a smoker's already serious risk of developing non-small cell lung cancer. Almost 90% of the over 200,000 cases of lung cancer that will be diagnosed in the United States this year are typed non-small cell lung cancer, and it tends to be a highly malignant version of cancer to end up with.

Both findings were presented Friday by separate research teams attending the European Lung Cancer Conference in Geneva.

"In terms of HPV, our finding is pretty controversial," said study author Dr. Arash Rezazadeh, a fellow of medical oncology and hematology at the University of Louisville in Kentucky. "And this is just the beginning of the road. There is much more work to be done. But it's important to know that being infected with this virus does appear to increase lung cancer risk."

As for the role of measles, the second study's lead author, Dr. Samuel Ariad, from the department of oncology at Soroka Medical Center in Beer Sheva, Israel, said that infection -- perhaps even asymptomatic infection -- seems to be associated with half of the lung cancer cases he tracked.

So,... can we mandate HPV vaccinations for all, now?

(Yes, I admit it would be good to see more studies done on this, in larger numbers, and with smokers as well as ill non-smokers. But I watched someone die from non-small cell lung cancer last year, and it's not something I'd wish on anyone - if we can stop even a small handful of those cases, along with all the other types of cancer HPV has been indicated in causing, isn't it worth the unlikely chance that the vaccine itself would encourage promiscuity?)
-Kelly Hills

Embracing the HPV Vaccine -- Warts and All?

We've posted before here and here about the HPV vaccine and debated whether or not it should be 'mandated' for girls; today in the NY Times an article in the Fashion and Style section (??) asks whether or not the parents would encourage their boys to get the vaccine. Currently, Gardasil is only FDA approved for girls and is marketed as preventing cervical cancer; but boys could benefit too, because the vaccine also protects against genital warts. Currently the vaccine is already approved for boys in Australia, Mexico and countries in the European Union; Merck will seek FDA approval for boys later this year. The question is, will the parents of young boys and girls in the USA buy it? Full article accessible here.

Should The HPV Vaccine Be Mandated?

We've discussed the HPV vaccine and why we think it should (or should not) be a mandatory vaccination - for both women and men (an argument we were making long before last week's study showed definitive proof of the need to vaccinate men). And on Tuesday night, when most of us were eying the results of Super Tuesday, our own Linda MacDonald Glenn was on a panel discussion hosted by Vanderbilt, on the same debate.

The video was streamed live, but for those of you who missed it, Vanderbilt should have the archived film up some time this week. The panel format makes it especially useful for people in teaching situations, who'd like to show their students a range of opinions in a civil debate.
-Kelly