CDC Estimates 25,000 HPV Cases Occurred Annually from 1998-2003
Twenty-five thousand cases of human papillomavirus (HPV)-associated cancers occurred in 38 states and the District of Columbia annually during 1998-2003, according to studies conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The report, titled "Assessing the Burden of Human Papillomavirus (HPV)-Associated Cancers in the United States," was published online and appears in the Nov. 15, 2008, supplement edition of Cancer.
"These estimates of HPV-associated cancers were collected prior to the development of the HPV vaccine," said Mona Saraiya, M.D., M.P.H., medical officer in CDC's Division of Cancer Prevention and Control and coordinator of the studies. "This gives us baseline data to measure the impact of HPV vaccine and cervical cancer screening programs in reducing the incidence of cervical cancer and other HPV-associated cancers and precancers."
The top HPV-associated cancer sites were cervix, oral cavity and oropharynx, anus, vulva, penis, and vagina. HPV is the name of a group of viruses that includes more than 100 different types. More than 30 of these HPV types can be sexually transmitted. Most people with HPV infection do not develop symptoms or health problems. Some HPV types can cause cervical cancer and other less common cancers, such as cancer of the vulva, vagina, anus, and penis. Other HPV types can cause genital warts.
To view the online article, go to www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/121498429/issue.