WASHINGTON (NNPA) – Although Black women are twice as likely as White women to die from cervical cancer, Human Papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination may not prevent cervical cancer in African American women, according to a new study.
The available vaccines only protect against four strains of HPV, which, according to this study from the Duke University School of Medicine, African American women are half as likely as White women to carry.
The American Cancer Society expects more than 12,000 women to be diagnosed with cervical cancer this year alone. Incidence rates have been falling for all women as screenings have become more routine, but the rate of infection for Black women is the second highest (after Latinas) – and it’s still 39 percent higher than their White counterparts.
Black women have been significantly more likely than any other group to die from cervical cancer.
The study examined 280 Black women and 292 White women, all carrying varying HPV strains – some had no signs of cancer, some showed mild signs of pre-cancer, and a small percentage had advanced precancerous abnormalities. In the group with the most advanced signs of pre-cancer, White participants carried strains 16, 18, 33, 39, and 59, whereas Black participants carried strains 31, 35, 45, 56, 58, 66, and 68.
Currently, two vaccines on the market target four HPV strains considered most troublesome. Gardasil, which is produced by Merck and can be administered to anyone age 9 through 26, protects against strains 16, 18, 6, and 11. Cervarix, by GlaxoSmithKline, is available only for girls and women and targets strains 16 and 18. (The vaccines also protect against less-common genital cancers in both men and women).
“Compared with white women, we saw that African-American women had about half as many infections with HPV 16 and 18, the subtypes that are covered by HPV vaccines,” said study co-author, Adriana Vidal. “Since African-American women don’t seem to be getting the same subtypes of HPV with the same frequency, the vaccines aren’t helping all women equally.”