SGO Publishes Paper on HPV Vaccine’s Impact on Cervical Cancer
The Society of Gynecologic Oncologists (SGO) has published the first of a four paper series on a cervical cancer issues and topics that were the focus of last September's SGO forum "The Future Strategies for Cervical Cancer Prevention: What Do We Need to Do Now to Prepare." The forum, which was attended by more than 50 cervical cancer experts from various backgrounds, focused on cervical cancer in the HPV vaccine era and looked at the current state of cervical cancer treatment and prevention. It also identified areas for future exploration and improvement.
The paper, entitled "The Impact of Human Papillomavirus Vaccination on Cervical Cancer Prevention Efforts," is featured in the August issue of Gynecologic Oncology. It includes information about HPV natural history and excerpts from forum discussions about the limits of current screenings, the impact eliminating HPV 16/18 through vaccination may have on cervical precancer and cervical cancer screening rates, strategies to measure vaccine uptake and obstacles surrounding separate screening for vaccinated women.
The lead author of the paper, Dr. Stewart Massad, a member of the SGO forum's organizational committee, concluded until population-based data on the performance of cytology, HPV testing and alternate screening or triage interventions become available, modification of current screening guidelines would be premature.
The three subsequent papers being developed for the four-part-series are on additional topics discussed at the forum and include:
- Current and future state of HPV typing of the vaccinated population
- Barriers of HPV vaccination in high risk populations
- Policies influencing HPV vaccination and screening
For more information go to http://www.sgo.org/.