HPV Vaccinations Reduced High-Grade Vulvar, Vaginal, and Anal Precancers

Since the introduction of the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine, incidence rates of cervical precancers have decreased. However, the vaccine's impact on noncervical anogenital precancers has not been shown. 

A new Research Brief published by the American Journal of Preventive Medicine on January 1, 2022 - High-Grade Vulvar, Vaginal, and Anal Precancers Among U.S. Adolescents and Young Adults After Human Papillomavirus Vaccine Introduction - found 'Opportunistically-detected high-grade vulvar and vaginal precancers among females aged 15–29 years decreased and anal precancers stabilized in years after the introduction of the HPV vaccine.

This suggests a positive impact of the HPV vaccine on noncervical human papillomavirus cancers.

The study examined the incidence rates of high-grade (intraepithelial lesions grade 3) vulvar, vaginal, and anal precancers among persons aged 15–39 years using 2000–2017 data from select cancer registries covering 27.8% of the U.S. population that required reporting of these precancers.

High-grade vulvar precancer rates declined by 21% per year after HPV vaccine introduction among females aged 15–19 years.

In addition, high-grade vaginal precancer rates declined by 19.1% per year among females aged 15–29 years after HPV vaccine introduction.

Compared with that in the prevaccine period when high-grade anal precancer rates increased, anal precancer rates after HPV vaccine introduction were stable among females aged 15–29 years and males aged 30–39 years.

Among males aged 15–29 years, the rates increased over the entire period but less so after HPV vaccine introduction.

Updated HPV vaccine news is published on this Precision Vaccination webpage.

Funding support for the primary author was received from the Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education, an asset of the U.S. Department of Energy. The authors of this paper reported no financial conflict disclosures.