Prostate cancer risk of denying boys HPV jab

A LIFESAVING j ab currently denied to millions of boys in Britain because of cost could potentially slash the risk of prostate cancer.

New research by scientists in Italy shows that having the human papilloma virus (HPV), which the jab targets, increases a man’s chances of a prostate tumour by nearly 40 per cent.

It’s the second study in less than a year to link the virus, which was once thought to only trigger cervical cancer in women, with prostate tumours – a leading cause of death in British men.

A Chinese i nvestigation l ast summer showed the risk of prostate cancer was more than doubled in men carrying the virus. Other recent studies have found the sexually transmitted virus also causes mouth, throat and penile cancers.

Last night campaigners said the latest findings could be hugely significant. ‘If the virus is linked to prostate cancer, that could be a game-changer,’ said Peter Baker, campaign director for the group HPV Action, which lobbies for teenage boys to be vaccinated.

‘It would make the case for vaccinating boys, which is already overwhelming, even more so.’

Since 2008, all girls aged 12 to 13 have been offered the Gardasil vaccine against HPV, a major cause of cervical cancer. The number of cases of the disease has since more than halved.

But while boys in the US, Australia, Canada and New Zealand are also vaccinated to protect them against catching the virus from unvaccinated girls or each other, in the UK, Ministers have repeatedly declined to do so.

Experts have advised Ministers that the cost would not be justified and claim that immunising girls creates ‘herd immunity’ by halting the spread to boys.

About 46,000 men a year in the UK get prostate cancer, and 11,000 die of it.

Scientists from the University of Catania in Italy carried out a review of all previous studies examining the links between the HPV virus and prostate cancer. They examined 30 studies, involving more than 6,000 men, which looked at the relationship between prostate tumours and two strains of the virus – HPV 16 and HPV 18.

Both strains are a major cause of cancer and are protected against by the Gardasil vaccine used in the UK. The results, published in the journal The Ageing Male, revealed that men carrying the HPV 16 strain were 37 per cent more likely to develop prostate cancer.

The HPV 18 strain did not increase the risk. Researchers said they cannot be certain this means the virus causes prostate cancer.

But they said immediate investigations should be undertaken to clarify the results.

Last year a similar study by a team from Zhejiang University in China suggested HPV more than doubled the risk of a prostate tumour. In a report on their findings, the Italian team said: ‘There is growing evidence showing an association between HPV infection and an increased risk of prostate cancer.’

HPV can be easily passed on through intimate skin-to-skin contact. Oral sex is also a major transmission route.

From this month, gay and bisexual men across England will be offered the vaccine to prevent oral and anal cancer, as well as genital warts.

A spokesman for the Department of Health and Social Care said: ‘The Joint Committee for Vaccination and Immunisation is currently reviewing whether or not we should extend HPV vaccination to boys.

‘ We will carefully consider its advice once received.’