As we honor National Cancer Prevention Month, what do you feel is the most important message to share with our community?
HPV-associated cancers including cervical cancer, oropharyngeal cancer and anal cancer are some of the only cancers for which primary prevention is available. HPV vaccination starting at age 9 can significantly reduce the risk of HPV-associated cancers
How can we prioritize cancer prevention in our daily lives?
By ensuring our loved ones are up to date on cancer prevention, whether it be children and adolescents receiving the HPV vaccine or adults receiving age-appropriate cancer screenings. By talking about and encouraging these cancer prevention activities we can also reduce the stigma and fear that can be associated with vaccination and screening and highlight the benefits of primary prevention and early detection
How can we help to improve cervical cancer prevention in the US and globally when there may be barriers to screenings?
The HPV vaccine is key – the WHO has now endorsed a single dose HPV vaccination strategy, making vaccination programs the most efficient and effective way to prevent cervical cancer, especially where there are barriers and limited resources for comprehensive screening programs.
In addition, primary HPV testing with patient self-collected vaginal samples for screening, has been shown to be effective and has been implemented in a number of other countries. Self-collection can address many of the current barriers to screening. Although self-collection is not yet FDA-approved in the U.S., NCI Director Dr. Kimryn Rathmell announced the launch of the ‘Last Mile’ Initiative Self-collection for HPV testing to Improve Cervical Cancer Prevention (SHIP) Trial Network at a White House Cervical cancer Forum last week and Yale will be a participating study site.
The NCI Cervical Cancer ‘Last Mile’ Initiative is a partnership bringing together multiple federal and private sector stakeholders to contribute evidence on the accuracy and clinical effectiveness of self-collection-based HPV testing for cervical cancer screening. The SHIP Trial will provide an independent platform to evaluate the usability, acceptability, and accuracy of multiple self-collection device-assay combinations for the detection of cancer-causing types of HPV.