Episode 99: Cervical Cancer and the HPV Vaccine

Historically, cervical cancer has been one of the major killers of young women. But since the advent of the pap smear, death from the disease has dropped dramatically. However, treatment of lesions identified on pap smear can lead to significant issues including infertility. And in other parts of the world where screenign is not easily accessed, cervical cancer remains a significant cause of death for women in the prime of life. As with any disease, prevention is better than treatment, and this is where the HPV vaccine comes into play. Known mainly by its trade name, Gardasil, the vaccine has been on the market for over a decade. That’s long enough to provide data to draw reasonable conclusions about its safety and efficacy. Resources: Prevalence of HPV after introduction of vaccine Population-Based Incidence Rates of Cervical Intraepithelial Neoplasia in the Human Papillomavirus Vaccine Era   Safety Resources: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21907257 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23027469 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24108159 http://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/1886177 https://www.cdc.gov/vaccinesafety/pdf/data-summary-hpv-gardasil-vaccine-is-safe.pdf   Be sure and subscribe in iTunes or Stitcher if you haven’t already.  And you know we’d appreciate it so much if you would tell your friends about 2 Docs Talk! Listen on iTunes Listen on Stitcher Now Available on Google Play Music!