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There are both vaccines for HPV (cause of cervical cancer) and HBV (cause of liver cancer).

by alphaoverlord 15y ago

sp332 15y ago
That's a bit like saying sunscreen is a vaccine for skin cancer.
- mechanical_fish 15y ago
  No, actually, it is like saying there is a vaccine that prevents many cervical cancers. And there is: http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/cervical-cancer-vaccine/WO00120 http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/cervical-cancer-vaccine/WO0... If you're a woman under age 26 you should get this at once. The cited article totally skips over these existing vaccines, of course. Probably someone along the line deleted one too many words from a more factually accurate sentence in the original press release.
  - JacobAldridge 15y ago
    And it's increasingly showing value for boys as well - http://www.slate.com/id/2296748/pagenum/all http://www.slate.com/id/2296748/pagenum/all Saddens me that the take up has not been much, much higher, but I have other forums for expressing my views on anti-vaccination liars.
    - ahoyhere 15y ago
      Sad to say it but the reason the HPV vaccines haven't been more popular has little to do with anti-vaccination propaganda, and much more to do with anti-sexual-promiscuity propaganda. Lots of people -- including many, many, many women -- think that vaccinating their daughters against HPV will encourage them to be promiscuous and that it is somehow preferable to risk their lives.
      - JacobAldridge 15y ago
        True, and from what I understand that's more the case in the US where the 'Abstinence Only' type model is more common (compared to Australia). Given the choice between sex and cancer, I know which one I'd prefer my child to be hiding from me - I'd also much prefer they understood safe sex, as opposed to an all or nothing approach.
_delirium 15y ago
This is a somewhat different category, vaccines that are supposed to direct antibodies against cancer tumors. The HPV/HBV ones are more traditional anti-viral vaccines that confer immunity to certain viruses, rather than specifically anti-cancer ones. They also have the effect of reducing cancer rates, since those viruses increase cancer rates, but only as a side-effect of preventing the viral infection. Although, as another comment points out, even in the directly anti-cancer category this isn't actually the first; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sipuleucel-T http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sipuleucel-T is already approved.

There are both vaccines for HPV (cause of cervical cancer) and HBV (cause of liver cancer).

sp332 15y ago

That's a bit like saying sunscreen is a vaccine for skin cancer.

mechanical_fish 15y ago
No, actually, it is like saying there is a vaccine that prevents many cervical cancers. And there is: http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/cervical-cancer-vaccine/WO00120 http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/cervical-cancer-vaccine/WO0... If you're a woman under age 26 you should get this at once. The cited article totally skips over these existing vaccines, of course. Probably someone along the line deleted one too many words from a more factually accurate sentence in the original press release.
- JacobAldridge 15y ago
  And it's increasingly showing value for boys as well - http://www.slate.com/id/2296748/pagenum/all http://www.slate.com/id/2296748/pagenum/all Saddens me that the take up has not been much, much higher, but I have other forums for expressing my views on anti-vaccination liars.
  - ahoyhere 15y ago
    Sad to say it but the reason the HPV vaccines haven't been more popular has little to do with anti-vaccination propaganda, and much more to do with anti-sexual-promiscuity propaganda. Lots of people -- including many, many, many women -- think that vaccinating their daughters against HPV will encourage them to be promiscuous and that it is somehow preferable to risk their lives.
    - JacobAldridge 15y ago
      True, and from what I understand that's more the case in the US where the 'Abstinence Only' type model is more common (compared to Australia). Given the choice between sex and cancer, I know which one I'd prefer my child to be hiding from me - I'd also much prefer they understood safe sex, as opposed to an all or nothing approach.

_delirium 15y ago

This is a somewhat different category, vaccines that are supposed to direct antibodies against cancer tumors. The HPV/HBV ones are more traditional anti-viral vaccines that confer immunity to certain viruses, rather than specifically anti-cancer ones. They also have the effect of reducing cancer rates, since those viruses increase cancer rates, but only as a side-effect of preventing the viral infection. Although, as another comment points out, even in the directly anti-cancer category this isn't actually the first; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sipuleucel-T http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sipuleucel-T is already approved.