HPV Vaccine Prevents Leading Cause of Cervical Cancer
06.08.06, 12:00 AM ET

THURSDAY, June 8 (HealthDay News) -- A vaccine to prevent the leading cause of cervical cancer -- infection with the human papillomavirus (HPV) -- was approved Thursday by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

HPV is the most common sexually transmitted infection in the United States. Besides causing up to 70 percent of cervical cancer cases, HPV also causes precancerous genital lesions and genital warts.

Gardasil, made by Merck & Co., is approved for use by females 9 to 26 years old. The vaccine is given as three injections over a six-month period, the FDA said.

Some 6.2 million Americans are infected with genital HPV every year, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates. In most women, the body's immune system clears the virus without complications. But in some cases, HPV can promote abnormal cells on the lining of the cervix that ultimately become cancerous, the FDA said.

On average, there are 9,710 new cases of cervical cancer each year in the United States, leading to 3,700 deaths.

Because the vaccine doesn't protect against less common HPV strains, routine Pap screening remains crucial to early detection and treatment of precancerous changes in the cervix, the FDA stressed.

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