August is Immunization Awareness Month, and immunization often finds itself as a controversial topic in the media. Despite the debate, immunization is a powerful tool to defend children and adults alike from dangerous infectious diseases that were, before vaccination was a common practice, widespread and often deadly.
At Yale, Assistant Professor of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Services Sangini Sheth, M.D., M.P.H., is conducting a clinical trial involving one of the more recently available vaccines, which combats the Human Papilloma Virus, or HPV.
The C.D.C. reports that ninety percent of cervical and anal cancers are likely caused by HPV, which is a sexually transmitted disease so common that most people get it at some point in their lives. Usually asymptomatic, most people are able to clear the disease without treatment. However some forms of HPV infection, if persistent, can cause abnormal, precancerous cells, called high-grade cervical dysplasia, also known as CIN2 or CIN3.
Sheth emphasizes that the currently available H.P.V. vaccine, Gardasil or Gardasil 9, is, combined with regular screening, a vital and extremely effective tool in preventing cervical cancer, and can also reduce rates of other genital tract, anal, head and neck cancers in both women and men.
“Unfortunately, local and national rates show, and what I see in my practice reflects the trends, is that we are not doing as good of a job as we should be in getting the vaccine to adolescents and young women,” she says.
Unfortunately, local and national rates show, and what I see in my practice reflects the trends, is that we are not doing as good of a job as we should be in getting the vaccine to adolescents and young women.
Sangini Sheth, M.D., M.P.H.
The vaccine is most effective when given well before adolescents reach the age at which they might become sexually active, and is routinely recommended at the age of 11 or 12, and as young as nine, for both boys and girls. Many parents avoid the vaccine, fearing it may cause earlier sexual activity or promiscuity. Several studies have shown this is not the case, Sheth says.
In addition to its role as an essential preventive measure against cervical cancer, Sheth and her colleague, Professor of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Services Alessandro Santin, M.D., have begun a clinical trial at Yale that tests the HPV. vaccine’s effectiveness as a treatment for high-grade cervical dysplasia when used with a topical medication. The current standard of care for treating this is cervical excision, which entails surgically removing the section of the cervix that contains the precancerous cells. Because surgery has inherent risks and can lead to future pregnancy and gynecologic complications, Sheth and Santin are examining a medical, non-surgical alternative treatment.
“We have begun enrolling patients and we are excited for this study’s potential to completely change treatment of precancerous cervical lesions. A non-surgical therapy would benefit so many of our patients.”
If you would like more information about this clinical trial, please contact Dr. Santin’s office at (203) 737-4450.