A new study shows that the HPV vaccine, GARDASIL, reduced abnormal Pap test results by 43 percent compared to women not given the vaccine. GARDASIL is FDA approved against the human papilloma virus (HPV) strains (6, 11, 16, 18) believed to cause 70 percent of cervical cancers and more than 90 percent of genital warts.
Nearly 25 million U.S. women between the ages of 14 and 59 are infected with HPV, and the annual cost of screening and treating cervical abnormalities is about $4 billion, according to a statement from the Society of Gynecologic Oncologists.
Study results have been derived from three separate trials of over 18,000 women, between the ages 16 and 26, in the United States, Europe and Asia. All participants had normal Pap smear readings at the beginning of the study.
In addition to the drop in unwanted Pap results, the study found invasive procedures like cervical biopsies were performed up to 42 percent less in GARDASIL recipients compared to women not given the vaccine.
“Clearly the vaccine’s benefits include something that can be appreciated by women and daughters fairly quickly,” said Warner Huh, M.D., associate professor in the UAB Division of Gynecologic Oncology. “This is a positive first sign, and it will take many more years to know definitively if the vaccine prevents cancer.”

Note: Dr. Huh is a consultant for Merck & Co, Inc, the makers of GARDASIL

Source: University of Alabama at Birmingham

• Has GARDASIL been evaluated long enough to determine it’s benefits, or will it take many more years to find out if it is indeed effective?