Deaths from HPV-Related Cancers Are Highly Preventable

Deaths from HPV-related cancers can be prevented without vaccination. I only have data for cervical cancer, but the basic argument for prevention in favor of vaccination should be the same for vulvar and vaginal cancers.

The incidence of death from cervical cancer is declining in the United States because the disease is both easily detected and easily treated. Half of the women in the United States who develop cervical cancer have never been screened; another ten percent have not been screened for at least five years. Of the 9,710 women estimated to have cervical cancer in 2006, an estimated 3,700 will die of the disease. Ninety percent of those deaths could have been prevented with early screening.

Thirty percent of cervical cancers not being caught early enough to be treated at the pre-cancerous stage are potentially due to Pap test failure rates. However, a recently developed DNA test for HPV is expected to reduce the number of pre-cancerous developments that are missed. Early testing in combination with treatment of pre-cancerous cells, according to the American Cancer Society, makes cervical cancer “an almost entirely preventable disease” even without the implementation of a vaccine program.

It should also be noted that the gestation period of HPV from infection to actual cancer is on average 20 years, so there is plenty of time to catch HPV infections and monitor them to see if they become cancerous.