March 1, 2025 • 15 mins
Karen continues her discussion on HPV, focusing on the types of cancers it can cause and the best prevention methods. She breaks down the staggering statistics on HPV-related cancers, explains why the virus can remain dormant for decades, and highlights the importance of screening and early detection.
Visit our website itchyandbitchy.com to read blog posts on the many topics we have covered on the show.
Visit our website itchyandbitchy.com to read blog posts on the many topics we have covered on the show.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
The content of this podcast is provided for general informational
purposes only and is not intended as nor should it
be considered a substitute for professional medical advice. Hello everyone,
(00:22):
This is Karen Nickel, family nurse practitioner, and this is
Itchy and Bitchy, a podcast that provides answers to your
many unanswered health questions. Again, I want to remind you
about my course called the Perimenopause Answer. If you are
going through this phase of life called perimenopause, or if
you don't know if you're in perimenopause, I would love
(00:42):
to have the opportunity to talk to you about the
course to see if it's the right fit for you.
There is a link on our website itchymbitchi dot com
and our Facebook page I and to B podcast where
you can schedule an appointment for a zoom call with me.
When you make that appointment, I will be sitting at
my desk waiting for you to join the one on
(01:03):
one zoom call. This is part two on the subject
of HPV human papaloma virus. As I mentioned in part
one in my practice and in my Paramenopause course, I
get questions about the human papalomavirus HPV and what kind
of risks it poses to women. As we age in
(01:24):
this episode, I will review with you the types of
cancers caused by the human papalomavirus and prevention measures. I
will be talking about areas of the body that are
impacted by HPV and about types of sex, so keep
that in mind if there are little ones around as
you listen. HPV is the causal agent of around five
(01:46):
percent of all cancers worldwide, along with genital warts and
laryngeal papalomas. Both warts and papalomas are not cancerous. Just
as a refresher from last week's episode, there are about
two hundred strains of HPV. Of those strains, around thirteen
(02:07):
carry the ability to cause cancer. The strains which are
most associated with HPV related cancers are HPV sixteen and
HPV eighteen. Many people are aware that HPV causes cervical
cancer in women. Unfortunately, this is not the whole HPV story.
(02:27):
High risk strains of HPV can result in HPV related
cancers of the anus, cervix, mouth and throat, penis, vagina,
and volva. We are seeing a dramatic rise in the
rates of anal, penile, and head and neet cancers in men.
As I mentioned in Part one, HPV has low and
(02:48):
high risk strains. The lowest strains can cause genital warts
and papillomas of the throat, and the high risk strains
can cause cancer. HPV can dormant in the body and
resurface as an HPV related cancer decades later, and researchers
believe that it can take from ten to twenty years
(03:12):
or even longer for a new infection with high risk
HPV to develop into cancer. The following are some astounding
statistics that show the impact of HPV on our cancer numbers.
HPV causes seventy percent of oral paaryngeal cancers that's of
(03:33):
the mouth and throat, ninety one percent of anal cancers,
ninety one percent of cervical cancers, sixty three percent of
penile cancers, seventy five percent of vaginal cancers, and seventy
percent of vulvar cancers. Cervical, vaginal, and anal cancers can
(03:53):
be caught early using a PAP test perhaps mirror. There
are no standard screening tests to find penile, mouth, and throat,
and vulvar cancers early. Still, some can be found early
during routine exams by a primary care provider, urologists, dentists,
or dental hygienis, or by doing self checks. Another problem
(04:16):
that can arise from HPV infection is that it can
cause recurrent respiratory papalamatosis our RP. Our RP is passed
from a lowest strain infected mother, So the mother carries
the lowest strain of HPV and has passed from that
mother to a child during childbirth, and it manifests in
(04:39):
the child as wartz in the throat. We would see
a dramatic decrease in the numbers of cancers of these
parts of the body if only we could stop HPV.
But wait, we do have methods of HPV prevention, and
following this quick break, I will share with you how
(04:59):
you can prevent a infection and by doing so, prevent
HPV related cancers. Stay right with me. One of the
(05:21):
most effective methods of preventing HPV and therefore preventing HPV
related cancers is vaccination. I know this word has negative
connotations in the US following the COVID nineteen pandemic, but
please please hear me out. First of all, the vaccine
is very, very effective, and it is the only vaccine
(05:47):
we have that can prevent cancer if you are vaccinated
before being exposed to the virus. The HPV vaccine is
ninety seven percent effective in preventing cervical cancer and cell
changes that could lead to cancer. Plus it's almost one
hundred percent effective in preventing external genital warts one hundred percent.
(06:12):
The newest version of the vaccine protects against nine of
the highest risk HPV strains. This includes the strains that
cause the majority of the cancers I just listed and
the strains that caused the majority of papollomas and genital warts.
The vaccine has been proven to be very safe with
(06:32):
no significant risks or side effects. The clinical trials for
HPV vaccines included huge numbers of participants. Each of the
three HPV vaccines that were once available. That's the Guardacil
nine and the Gardasil quadrivalent so it had four strains,
(06:53):
and the bi valent serverix so it contained two strains.
They went through years of strict safety testing before the
US Food and direug Administration licensed it. Each vaccine was
found to be safe and effective in clinical trials guardacil,
the one with four strains, was studied in clinical trials
(07:14):
with more than twenty nine thousand females and males. Guard
Tocel nine, which covers nine strains of HPV, was studied
in clinical trials with more than fifteen thousand females and males.
Serverrex was studied in clinical trials with more than thirty
thousand females. Cerverx is no longer available in the United States,
(07:39):
but it is still used in other countries. It covers
the two high risk strains sixteen and eighteen. The more
we vaccinate, the more will have a significant decrease in
HPV transmission and HPV related cancer. The ideal age for
HPV vaccination is eleven to twelve years old, but it
(08:00):
can be given to everyone aged nine through twenty six.
If you are older than twenty six years old and
have not been vaccinated and are at risk for a
new HPV infection, you and your OBGYN or primary care
physician can talk about whether you need the HPV vaccine.
The vaccine is approved for people through age forty five
(08:24):
years old. Now. It's ideal to be vaccinated when you
are receiving your normal vaccinations during childhood and adolescents, so
most of the shots are given by a pediatrician or
family doctor, but obgyns and other healthcare professionals can also
give adults catch up shots. If you were not vaccinated earlier,
(08:45):
the vaccine is still helpful even if you have already
tested positive for HPV or have been sexually active for
a while. Most HPV transmission happens when people first become
sexually active, but people who have already tested positive for
HPV usually aren't positive for all nine types that we
(09:08):
vaccinate for, so in some cases we'll recommend those patients
get the vaccine if they haven't already. Even if you
didn't get the vaccine early in life and have been
sexually active for years, it's definitely still worth getting the
series of shots. You might not yet be exposed to
(09:29):
all types of HPV that are covered by the vaccine,
and it's possible to contract more than one type of
HPV strain, so you want to be covered fully covered.
Let's say you have an abnormal PAP or an abnormal
biopsy that shows abnormal cells due to HPV, and you
have the abnormal cells removed or ablated after the abnormal
(09:54):
cells have been treated by removing or destroying the cells.
The hpvve vaccine may help prevent abnormal cells from coming back.
The benefits of the HPV vaccine are monitored in the
US on an ongoing basis. The initial gardaicell vaccine again
covered four strains of HPV, and the current version covers
(10:17):
nine strains of the virus. As early as four years
after the initial version of Gardacil was licensed, HPV infection
caused by the four strains covered in that vaccine had
decreased fifty six percent among fourteen to nineteen year old
females in the US. Within twelve years of vaccine introduction,
(10:39):
infections with the four HPV types prevented by Guardacil decreased
eighty eight percent among fourteen to nineteen year old females
and eighty one percent among twenty to twenty four year
old females. We also saw vaccine benefits and infections caused
by the low risk strains of HPV. In a study
(11:00):
of a large group of private health insurance patients in
the US, it was found that between two thousand and six,
the first year HPV vaccination was recommended for females and
twenty fourteen, prevalence of anogenital WARTS among females age fifteen
to nineteen year olds decreased by sixty one percent and
(11:21):
decreased forty four percent among twenty to twenty four year olds.
Small declines in males in these age groups were observed
starting after two thousand and nine. The initial decline in
males was likely due to the fact that girls and
young women were getting vaccinated because routine vaccination of boys
wasn't recommended until twenty eleven. HPV vaccination protection lasts for
(11:46):
more than ten years without becoming less effective, and currently
there are studies to continue to evaluate how long the
protection will last. While the vaccine is very safe, called
side effects can occur, as they can with any vaccination.
The most common side effects are pain and redness are
(12:08):
swelling in the arm at the site where the vaccine
was given. Dizziness and syncope, which is fainting. Nausea and
headache can also occur. The dizziness and feigning was most
common is most common in preteens and teenagers and this
can be prevented and we prevented it in our office
by having the person stay lying down on the exam
(12:30):
table for at least fifteen minutes or so after the vaccination.
It works like a charm. On very rare occasions, a
person may have a serious allergic reaction called anaphylaxis to
any vaccine, including HPV vaccines. In the United States, anaphylaxis
following vaccination overall has a reported rate of three cases
(12:54):
per one million doses administered. People with severe allergies to
any component of any vaccine should not receive that particular vaccine.
Other prevention measures include using barrier methods during sex like
condoms and limiting the number of sexual partners you have,
(13:14):
and these are very important measures to take to aid prevention. However,
through vaccination, we have the power to stop an epidemic
and reduce the economic and social burdens of treatment for
cancer and genital warts. HPV infections have caused devastating health
issues across the globe. Increasing our hp vaccination rate is
(13:38):
the greatest opportunity in decades that we have had to
prevent cancer. Thank you for listening. Wherever you listen to
this podcast, please leave a review and rate the podcast.
Your reviews and ratings really matter. Also, make sure you
follow the show so that it will be automatically downloaded.
(13:58):
That matters due I encourage you to visit our Facebook
page imb Podcast, where you can give us a like
and leave comments or questions for me. Our website is
itchymbitchi dot com, where there are blogs with some of
our subjects available for you to read. On the Facebook
page and website, we have the information about how to
schedule an appointment with me so we can chat about
(14:21):
how my paraman and Pause course can help you if
you're going through this phase in life. As always, thanks
to my son Forestwinsl, our producer and composer of our
theme music, and the person who does all the behind
the scenes work to make this podcast possible. Thank you
so much, Forest Again. Forest has started his second of
(14:41):
four semesters to earn a master's degree in music composition
at the prestigious Peabody Music Conservatory. If you want to
listen to some of his music other than my beloved
Itchymbitchy theme song, you can go to his website Forestwinsl
dot com, fo r R E S t W E
N t z e l dot com. Your health is
(15:04):
in your hands.
The content of this podcast is provided for general informational
purposes only and is not intended as nor should it
be considered a substitute for professional medical advice. Hello everyone,
(00:22):
This is Karen Nickel, family nurse practitioner, and this is
Itchy and Bitchy, a podcast that provides answers to your
many unanswered health questions. Again, I want to remind you
about my course called the Perimenopause Answer. If you are
going through this phase of life called perimenopause, or if
you don't know if you're in perimenopause, I would love
(00:42):
to have the opportunity to talk to you about the
course to see if it's the right fit for you.
There is a link on our website itchymbitchi dot com
and our Facebook page I and to B podcast where
you can schedule an appointment for a zoom call with me.
When you make that appointment, I will be sitting at
my desk waiting for you to join the one on
(01:03):
one zoom call. This is part two on the subject
of HPV human papaloma virus. As I mentioned in part
one in my practice and in my Paramenopause course, I
get questions about the human papalomavirus HPV and what kind
of risks it poses to women. As we age in
(01:24):
this episode, I will review with you the types of
cancers caused by the human papalomavirus and prevention measures. I
will be talking about areas of the body that are
impacted by HPV and about types of sex, so keep
that in mind if there are little ones around as
you listen. HPV is the causal agent of around five
(01:46):
percent of all cancers worldwide, along with genital warts and
laryngeal papalomas. Both warts and papalomas are not cancerous. Just
as a refresher from last week's episode, there are about
two hundred strains of HPV. Of those strains, around thirteen
(02:07):
carry the ability to cause cancer. The strains which are
most associated with HPV related cancers are HPV sixteen and
HPV eighteen. Many people are aware that HPV causes cervical
cancer in women. Unfortunately, this is not the whole HPV story.
(02:27):
High risk strains of HPV can result in HPV related
cancers of the anus, cervix, mouth and throat, penis, vagina,
and volva. We are seeing a dramatic rise in the
rates of anal, penile, and head and neet cancers in men.
As I mentioned in Part one, HPV has low and
(02:48):
high risk strains. The lowest strains can cause genital warts
and papillomas of the throat, and the high risk strains
can cause cancer. HPV can dormant in the body and
resurface as an HPV related cancer decades later, and researchers
believe that it can take from ten to twenty years
(03:12):
or even longer for a new infection with high risk
HPV to develop into cancer. The following are some astounding
statistics that show the impact of HPV on our cancer numbers.
HPV causes seventy percent of oral paaryngeal cancers that's of
(03:33):
the mouth and throat, ninety one percent of anal cancers,
ninety one percent of cervical cancers, sixty three percent of
penile cancers, seventy five percent of vaginal cancers, and seventy
percent of vulvar cancers. Cervical, vaginal, and anal cancers can
(03:53):
be caught early using a PAP test perhaps mirror. There
are no standard screening tests to find penile, mouth, and throat,
and vulvar cancers early. Still, some can be found early
during routine exams by a primary care provider, urologists, dentists,
or dental hygienis, or by doing self checks. Another problem
(04:16):
that can arise from HPV infection is that it can
cause recurrent respiratory papalamatosis our RP. Our RP is passed
from a lowest strain infected mother, So the mother carries
the lowest strain of HPV and has passed from that
mother to a child during childbirth, and it manifests in
(04:39):
the child as wartz in the throat. We would see
a dramatic decrease in the numbers of cancers of these
parts of the body if only we could stop HPV.
But wait, we do have methods of HPV prevention, and
following this quick break, I will share with you how
(04:59):
you can prevent a infection and by doing so, prevent
HPV related cancers. Stay right with me. One of the
(05:21):
most effective methods of preventing HPV and therefore preventing HPV
related cancers is vaccination. I know this word has negative
connotations in the US following the COVID nineteen pandemic, but
please please hear me out. First of all, the vaccine
is very, very effective, and it is the only vaccine
(05:47):
we have that can prevent cancer if you are vaccinated
before being exposed to the virus. The HPV vaccine is
ninety seven percent effective in preventing cervical cancer and cell
changes that could lead to cancer. Plus it's almost one
hundred percent effective in preventing external genital warts one hundred percent.
(06:12):
The newest version of the vaccine protects against nine of
the highest risk HPV strains. This includes the strains that
cause the majority of the cancers I just listed and
the strains that caused the majority of papollomas and genital warts.
The vaccine has been proven to be very safe with
(06:32):
no significant risks or side effects. The clinical trials for
HPV vaccines included huge numbers of participants. Each of the
three HPV vaccines that were once available. That's the Guardacil
nine and the Gardasil quadrivalent so it had four strains,
(06:53):
and the bi valent serverix so it contained two strains.
They went through years of strict safety testing before the
US Food and direug Administration licensed it. Each vaccine was
found to be safe and effective in clinical trials guardacil,
the one with four strains, was studied in clinical trials
(07:14):
with more than twenty nine thousand females and males. Guard
Tocel nine, which covers nine strains of HPV, was studied
in clinical trials with more than fifteen thousand females and males.
Serverrex was studied in clinical trials with more than thirty
thousand females. Cerverx is no longer available in the United States,
(07:39):
but it is still used in other countries. It covers
the two high risk strains sixteen and eighteen. The more
we vaccinate, the more will have a significant decrease in
HPV transmission and HPV related cancer. The ideal age for
HPV vaccination is eleven to twelve years old, but it
(08:00):
can be given to everyone aged nine through twenty six.
If you are older than twenty six years old and
have not been vaccinated and are at risk for a
new HPV infection, you and your OBGYN or primary care
physician can talk about whether you need the HPV vaccine.
The vaccine is approved for people through age forty five
(08:24):
years old. Now. It's ideal to be vaccinated when you
are receiving your normal vaccinations during childhood and adolescents, so
most of the shots are given by a pediatrician or
family doctor, but obgyns and other healthcare professionals can also
give adults catch up shots. If you were not vaccinated earlier,
(08:45):
the vaccine is still helpful even if you have already
tested positive for HPV or have been sexually active for
a while. Most HPV transmission happens when people first become
sexually active, but people who have already tested positive for
HPV usually aren't positive for all nine types that we
(09:08):
vaccinate for, so in some cases we'll recommend those patients
get the vaccine if they haven't already. Even if you
didn't get the vaccine early in life and have been
sexually active for years, it's definitely still worth getting the
series of shots. You might not yet be exposed to
(09:29):
all types of HPV that are covered by the vaccine,
and it's possible to contract more than one type of
HPV strain, so you want to be covered fully covered.
Let's say you have an abnormal PAP or an abnormal
biopsy that shows abnormal cells due to HPV, and you
have the abnormal cells removed or ablated after the abnormal
(09:54):
cells have been treated by removing or destroying the cells.
The hpvve vaccine may help prevent abnormal cells from coming back.
The benefits of the HPV vaccine are monitored in the
US on an ongoing basis. The initial gardaicell vaccine again
covered four strains of HPV, and the current version covers
(10:17):
nine strains of the virus. As early as four years
after the initial version of Gardacil was licensed, HPV infection
caused by the four strains covered in that vaccine had
decreased fifty six percent among fourteen to nineteen year old
females in the US. Within twelve years of vaccine introduction,
(10:39):
infections with the four HPV types prevented by Guardacil decreased
eighty eight percent among fourteen to nineteen year old females
and eighty one percent among twenty to twenty four year
old females. We also saw vaccine benefits and infections caused
by the low risk strains of HPV. In a study
(11:00):
of a large group of private health insurance patients in
the US, it was found that between two thousand and six,
the first year HPV vaccination was recommended for females and
twenty fourteen, prevalence of anogenital WARTS among females age fifteen
to nineteen year olds decreased by sixty one percent and
(11:21):
decreased forty four percent among twenty to twenty four year olds.
Small declines in males in these age groups were observed
starting after two thousand and nine. The initial decline in
males was likely due to the fact that girls and
young women were getting vaccinated because routine vaccination of boys
wasn't recommended until twenty eleven. HPV vaccination protection lasts for
(11:46):
more than ten years without becoming less effective, and currently
there are studies to continue to evaluate how long the
protection will last. While the vaccine is very safe, called
side effects can occur, as they can with any vaccination.
The most common side effects are pain and redness are
(12:08):
swelling in the arm at the site where the vaccine
was given. Dizziness and syncope, which is fainting. Nausea and
headache can also occur. The dizziness and feigning was most
common is most common in preteens and teenagers and this
can be prevented and we prevented it in our office
by having the person stay lying down on the exam
(12:30):
table for at least fifteen minutes or so after the vaccination.
It works like a charm. On very rare occasions, a
person may have a serious allergic reaction called anaphylaxis to
any vaccine, including HPV vaccines. In the United States, anaphylaxis
following vaccination overall has a reported rate of three cases
(12:54):
per one million doses administered. People with severe allergies to
any component of any vaccine should not receive that particular vaccine.
Other prevention measures include using barrier methods during sex like
condoms and limiting the number of sexual partners you have,
(13:14):
and these are very important measures to take to aid prevention. However,
through vaccination, we have the power to stop an epidemic
and reduce the economic and social burdens of treatment for
cancer and genital warts. HPV infections have caused devastating health
issues across the globe. Increasing our hp vaccination rate is
(13:38):
the greatest opportunity in decades that we have had to
prevent cancer. Thank you for listening. Wherever you listen to
this podcast, please leave a review and rate the podcast.
Your reviews and ratings really matter. Also, make sure you
follow the show so that it will be automatically downloaded.
(13:58):
That matters due I encourage you to visit our Facebook
page imb Podcast, where you can give us a like
and leave comments or questions for me. Our website is
itchymbitchi dot com, where there are blogs with some of
our subjects available for you to read. On the Facebook
page and website, we have the information about how to
schedule an appointment with me so we can chat about
(14:21):
how my paraman and Pause course can help you if
you're going through this phase in life. As always, thanks
to my son Forestwinsl, our producer and composer of our
theme music, and the person who does all the behind
the scenes work to make this podcast possible. Thank you
so much, Forest Again. Forest has started his second of
(14:41):
four semesters to earn a master's degree in music composition
at the prestigious Peabody Music Conservatory. If you want to
listen to some of his music other than my beloved
Itchymbitchy theme song, you can go to his website Forestwinsl
dot com, fo r R E S t W E
N t z e l dot com. Your health is
(15:04):
in your hands.
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