COLUMBUS, Ohio – Nearly 150 cancer control/prevention researchers and public health leaders from the National Cancer Institute (NCI), Centers for Disease Control, American Cancer Society and leading NCI-designated comprehensive cancer centers will gather in Columbus, Ohio, at The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center – Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute (OSUCCC – James) on June 30 and July 1 to share best practices about what works — and what doesn’t work — in increasing HPV (human papillomavirus) vaccination rates.

Douglas Lowy, MD, director of the NCI, will serve as keynote speaker at the HPV Summit. He will talk about the potential place for HPV vaccine research in the national Cancer Moonshot initiative and updates on research underway to develop the next version of the HPV vaccine.

Scope of HPV-Associated Cancers in the U.S.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), HPV infections are responsible for approximately 27,000 new cancer diagnoses each year in the United States. An estimated 79 million people are currently infected with the HPV virus and additional 17 million will contract the virus this year.

Despite this rise in HPV exposure and known link to numerous cancers, vaccination rates across the United States remain low with less than 40 percent of girls and approximately 21 percent of boys receiving the recommended three-dose vaccine. In Ohio, 35 percent of girls and 23 percent of boys have received the three-dose vaccine.

HPV Summit Details

Topics to be discussed at the summit include:

• Action steps to accelerate research within the context of data sharing policies and pubic policy regulations as well as working with public health immunization programs
• Best practices acquired through partnering with public health jurisdictions to increase HPV vaccination among adolescents
• Strategies for policymakers who influence requiring mandatory HPV vaccination for entering public schools
• The HPV vaccine’s impact on other cancers including dramatic increase in oral cancers

“In order to increase HPV vaccination rates, we must change the perception of the HPV vaccine from something that prevents a sexually transmitted disease to a vaccine that prevents cancer,” says Electra Paskett, PhD, co-director of the Cancer Control Research Program at the OSUCCC – James and a member of the National Institutes of Health’s National Cancer Advisory Board. “Every parent should ask the question: if there was a vaccine I could give my child that would prevent them from developing six different cancers, would I give it to them? The answer would be a resounding yes, and we would have dramatic decrease in HPV-related cancers across the globe.”

This group issued a consensus statement in January 2016 regarding the importance of HPV vaccination. They expect to develop a second statement based on the discussion in this meeting that addresses changing public norms and policy with recommendations to the global medical community and public health entities on specific actions to increase HPV vaccination rates.

About the OSUCCC – James

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Media Contact: 
Amanda J. Harper
Office: 614-685-5420
Cell: 513-659-6847
Amanda.harper2@osumc.edu