A groundbreaking study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) has revealed the significant impact of the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination on reducing cervical cancer mortality rates. According to the research, led by Ashish Deshmukh, Ph.D., co-leader of the Cancer Prevention and Control Research Program at the MUSC Hollings Cancer Center, cervical cancer deaths have decreased by an impressive 62% over the past decade.
This decline is attributed primarily to the widespread administration of the HPV vaccine, which was first introduced in 2006. Initially available only to adolescents, the vaccine's eligibility has since been expanded to include adults up to the age of 45 in certain cases. The human papillomavirus is known to cause nearly all cases of cervical cancer, and previous studies have documented a reduction in HPV infection rates, precancerous conditions, and cervical cancer incidence following the vaccine's introduction.
Deshmukh and his team concentrated on death rates, particularly in women under 25, to assess the early impact of the vaccine. They noted that women who reached the age of 25 in 2021 would have been 10 years old when the vaccine became available. By analyzing cervical cancer deaths in three-year increments, the researchers discovered that while the 1990s saw between 50 and 60 deaths in women under 25 in each period, the number fell to just 13 deaths from 2019 to 2021.
Despite these promising findings, the researchers have issued a warning regarding HPV vaccination rates. The Healthy People 2030 initiative has set a target of achieving an 80% vaccination rate against HPV. However, data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) earlier this year indicated that only about 60% of adolescents aged 13 to 15 have received the recommended doses of the vaccine.
Deshmukh expressed concern about the drop in HPV vaccination uptake following the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly among the most recent cohort of U.S. adolescents. "This is troubling as a decline in vaccination uptake would potentially lead to smaller gains," he emphasized, highlighting the importance of maintaining and increasing vaccination efforts to continue the progress made in reducing cervical cancer mortality.
