Several treatment options are available to manage skin or mucous membrane changes caused by HPV, but no therapy is curative. The recent FDA approval of the quadrivalent vaccine Gardasil does offer prevention of some forms of HPV.
Full Answer
What is the history of HPV?
In 1965, the first published HPV study characterized its DNA. 5 Prior to 1965, papillomavirus studies focused on rabbit papillomavirus and its association to cancer. 6 During the 1970’s, more than one type of HPV was recognized and by 1972, work was underway to evaluate an association between HPV and cervical cancer. 7
What are the treatments for HPV?
However, there are treatments for the health problems that HPV can cause: Genital warts can be treated by your healthcare provider or with prescription medication. Cervical precancer can be treated. Other HPV-related cancers are also more treatable when diagnosed and treated early.
What is the prevalence of HPV?
Prevalence in U.S. Men - A 2006 review of 40 HPV prevalence studies found that, among U.S. males, prevalence rates ranged from 1.3 to 72.9 percent. 16 The researchers concluded that:
What are the health problems caused by HPV?
However, there are treatments for the health problems that HPV can cause: Genital warts can be treated by your healthcare provider or with prescription medication. If left untreated, genital warts may go away, stay the same, or grow in size or number.
What discovery was made about HPV and what is it?
zur Hausen and his team found novel HPV- DNA in cervical cancer biopsies, thus discovering the tumorigenic virus type HPV 16 in 1983. A year later, the team cloned HPV 16 and HPV 18 from patients with cervical cancer.
How did they treat HPV?
There is no treatment for the virus itself. However, there are treatments for the health problems that HPV can cause: Genital warts can be treated by your healthcare provider or with prescription medication. If left untreated, genital warts may go away, stay the same, or grow in size or number.
How long was the HPV vaccine in development?
After seven years of design and testing, the first human trials for the vaccine, named Gardasil, were completed. This vaccine prevented four high-risk HPV types (HPV 6, 11, 16, and 18), which would target over 70% of cervical cancer cases.
How has the HPV vaccine helped?
HPV infections, genital warts, and cervical precancers (abnormal cells on the cervix that can lead to cancer) have dropped since the vaccine has been in use in the United States. Infections with HPV types that cause most HPV cancers and genital warts have dropped 88% among teen girls and 81% among young adult women.
Are they working on a cure for HPV?
There's no cure for HPV, no matter what gender you are. However, with regular testing, your nurse or doctor can find abnormal cells in your cervix and treat them before they turn into cancer. And most HPV infections go away on their own and don't cause any serious health problems.
Is there a vaccine for HPV?
Three vaccines that prevent infection with disease-causing HPV have been licensed in the United States: Gardasil, Gardasil 9, and Cervarix. Gardasil 9 has, since 2016, been the only HPV vaccine used in the United States.
When was the HPV vaccine developed?
Since HPV vaccines were first introduced in the U.S. in 2006 there have been changes in the range of protection they offer and the dosing regimen. The vaccines were originally recommended only for girls and young women and were subsequently broadened to include boys and young men.
How is the HPV vaccine developed?
The HPV vaccine is made using a protein that resides on the surface of the virus. The protein is grown in the lab in yeast cells. Once the protein is grown, it assembles itself to look like the HPV virus; however, importantly, it does not contain HPV genetic material, so it can't reproduce itself or cause illness.
When was the HPV vaccine approved?
On June 8, 2006, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved an HPV vaccine for clinical use. The HPV vaccine that has been approved is the quadrivalent vaccine that consists of recombinant viral-like particles (VLPs) of HPV 6, 11, 16, 18 mixed with an aluminum-containing adjuvant.
How successful was the HPV vaccine?
The HPV vaccine works extremely well. In the 10 years after the vaccine was recommended in 2006 in the United States, quadrivalent type HPV infections decreased by 86% in female teens aged 14 to 19 years and 71% in women in their early 20s.
What HPV vaccine was used in 2009?
On October 16, 2009, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) licensed bivalent human papillomavirus vaccine (HPV2; Cervarix, GlaxoSmithKline) for use in females aged 10 through 25 years. Cervarix is the second human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine licensed for use in females in the United States.
Why did the HPV vaccine come out?
The free HPV vaccine program was introduced in 2007 because extensive trials proved that vaccinating young women with the HPV vaccine was likely to significantly reduce cervical cancer diagnoses and deaths from the disease, as well as a significant number of cervical screening abnormalities.
How to treat HPV?
There is no treatment for the virus itself. However, there are treatments for the health problems that HPV can cause: 1 Genital warts can be treated by your healthcare provider or with prescription medication. If left untreated, genital warts may go away, stay the same, or grow in size or number. 2 Cervical precancer can be treated. Women who get routine Pap tests and follow up as needed can identify problems before cancer develops. Prevention is always better than treatment. For more information visit www.cancer.org#N#external icon#N#. 3 Other HPV-related cancers are also more treatable when diagnosed and treated early. For more information visit www.cancer.org#N#external icon
Can genital warts be treated?
Genital warts can be treated by your healthcare provider or with prescription medication. If left untreated, genital warts may go away, stay the same, or grow in size or number. Cervical precancer can be treated. Women who get routine Pap tests and follow up as needed can identify problems before cancer develops.
Is Pap test better than treatment?
Women who get routine Pap tests and follow up as needed can identify problems before cancer develops. Prevention is always better than treatment. For more information visit www.cancer.org. . Other HPV-related cancers are also more treatable when diagnosed and treated early. For more information visit www.cancer.org.
How many women were in the study of CIN 3?
The study consisted of 192 women, all of whom had either CIN 2 or CIN 3 precancerous cervical lesions. Study participants were randomly separated into two groups. The first group was comprised of 129 women who received the therapy and the second group had 63 women who received the placebo. Regardless of group, all of the women received an injection into their thigh once a week for three weeks. Six months after they received their injections, all of the study participants underwent surgery to remove the precancerous cells.
Is HPV a cervical precancerous lesions?
So far, this new type of vaccine has been tested in one study involving women with cervical precancerous lesions resulting from an HPV infection. Cervical precancerous lesions (known as cervical intraepithelial neoplasia or CIN) are separated into three grades of severity: