PRESS-NEWS.org - Press Release Distribution
PRESS RELEASES DISTRIBUTION

HPV strains affecting African-American women differ from vaccines

2013-10-28
(Press-News.org) Contact information: Rachel Harrison
rachel.harrison@duke.edu
919-419-5069
Duke University Medical Center
HPV strains affecting African-American women differ from vaccines NATIONAL HARBOR, M.D. – Two subtypes of human papillomavirus (HPV) prevented by vaccines are half as likely to be found in African-American women as in white women with precancerous cervical lesions, according to researchers at Duke Medicine.

The findings, presented on Oct. 28, 2013, at the 12th annual International Conference on Frontiers in Cancer Prevention Research hosted by the American Association for Cancer Research, suggest that African-American women may be less likely to benefit from available HPV vaccines to prevent cervical cancer.

HPV is a common sexually transmitted infection with more than 40 subtypes. The virus causes nearly all cases of cervical cancer, which begin as precancerous cervical abnormalities. Two vaccines currently available to young women prevent infection by HPV 16 and HPV 18, the HPV strains responsible for about 70 percent cervical cancers.

"Screening programs for cervical cancer are known to work well, with around 90 percent of sexually active women getting screened through Pap tests," said senior author Cathrine Hoyo, Ph.D., M.P.H., associate professor of obstetrics and gynecology at Duke University School of Medicine.

"The question is, if screening rates are comparable in African-American and white women, why are the rates of cervical cancer and mortality higher among African-American women when we have a program that works so well?"

Hoyo and her colleagues sought to better understand these disparities by determining if African-American and white women in the U.S. are infected with the same subtypes of HPV. The researchers enrolled 572 participants -- 280 African-American women and 292 non-Hispanic white women -- who came for additional testing after receiving abnormal Pap test results.

Of the 572 participants, 245 (43 percent) had no precancerous cervical abnormalities, 239 (42 percent) had early precancerous cervical abnormalities, and 88 (15 percent) had advanced precancerous cervical abnormalities. Seventy-three percent of the women infected with HPV were infected with multiple HPV subtypes.

When the researchers looked at the specific strains of HPV, they found that white women and African-American women were often infected with different subtypes. The most frequent HPV subtypes detected among white women with early precancerous cervical abnormalities were 16, 18, 56, 39 and 66, while HPV subtypes 33, 35, 58 and 68 were the most common ones detected in African-Americans.

In those with advanced precancerous cervical abnormalities, HPV 16, 18, 33, 39 and 59 were the most common genotypes detected in white women, whereas HPV 31, 35, 45, 56, 58, 66 and 68 were the most prevalent in African-American women.

"Compared with white women, we saw that African-American women had about half as many infections with HPV 16 and 18, the subtypes that are covered by HPV vaccines," said Adriana Vidal, Ph.D., assistant professor of obstetrics and gynecology at Duke University School of Medicine and the study's first author. "Since African-American women don't seem to be getting the same subtypes of HPV with the same frequency, the vaccines aren't helping all women equally."

A new HPV vaccine targeting nine HPV subtypes (6, 11, 16, 18, 31, 33, 45, 52 and 58) is currently being tested in phase III trials. While the new vaccine may help prevent additional HPV infections by covering new subtypes, it may not address the disparities found in this study.

"The most disconcerting part of this new vaccine is it doesn't include HPV 35, 66 and 68, three of the strains of HPV of which African-American women are getting the most," Hoyo said. "We may want to rethink how we develop these vaccines, given that African-Americans tend to be underrepresented in clinical trials."

The researchers noted that while these findings are compelling, the results are preliminary and the studies should be replicated in larger populations. Hoyo, Vidal and their colleagues are also continuing the research to define epigenetic marks that can be used to predict which precancerous cervical abnormalities will advance.

### In additional to Hoyo and Vidal, study authors from Duke include Fidel Valea, Anne Ford, Francine Overcash and Susan K. Murphy of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology; Rex Bentley and Katherine Grant of the Department of Pathology; and Maggie Gradison and Kimberly S. H. Yarnall of the Department of Community and Family Medicine. Jennifer S. Smith of the Department of Epidemiology at Gillings School of Global Public Health at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill also contributed to the research.

The research was supported by the National Cancer Institute (R01CA142983 and R01CA142983-02S1). The authors reported no conflicts of interest.


ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

New STELARA data show inhibition of joint destruction in active psoriatic arthritis

2013-10-28
New STELARA data show inhibition of joint destruction in active psoriatic arthritis Integrated analysis of 2 pivotal Phase 3 studies showed STELARA inhibited the progression of structural damage at week 24, and demonstrated continued inhibition through 2 years San ...

Tell-tale toes point to oldest-known fossil bird tracks from Australia

2013-10-28
Tell-tale toes point to oldest-known fossil bird tracks from Australia Two fossilized footprints found at Dinosaur Cove in Victoria, Australia, were likely made by birds during the Early Cretaceous, making them the oldest known bird tracks in Australia. The ...

The cyber-centipede: From Linnaeus to big data

2013-10-28
The cyber-centipede: From Linnaeus to big data Taxonomic descriptions, introduced by Linnaeus in 1735, are designed to allow scientists to tell one species from another. Now there is a new futuristic method for describing new species that goes far beyond the tradition. The new approach ...

Study maps human impacts on top ocean predators along US west coast

2013-10-28
Study maps human impacts on top ocean predators along US west coast Animal tracking data combined with mapping of human activities reveals high impact areas where efforts to reduce impacts would be most effective The California Current System along the ...

Keeping emotions in check may not always benefit psychological health

2013-10-28
Keeping emotions in check may not always benefit psychological health Being able to regulate your emotions is important for well-being, but new research suggests that a common emotion regulation strategy called "cognitive reappraisal" ...

DOE rooftop challenge winners offer energy, cost savings

2013-10-28
DOE rooftop challenge winners offer energy, cost savings If widely adopted, the energy savings would be like taking 700,000 cars off the road every year RICHLAND, Wash. – New super-efficient rooftop units that heat and cool commercial buildings offer ...

El Niño is becoming more active

2013-10-28
El Niño is becoming more active A new approach to analyzing paleo-climate reconstructions of the El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) phenomenon resolves disagreements and reveals that ENSO activity during the 20th century has been unusually ...

Breaking news: GSA session to address flooding in Colorado's front range region

2013-10-28
Breaking news: GSA session to address flooding in Colorado's front range region The 2013 Colorado flood event -- a perfect storm hits a dynamic landscape -- causes, processes, and effects Boulder, CO, USA – In response to devastation caused by unprecedented heavy ...

Regular cocaine and cannabis use may trigger addictive behaviors

2013-10-28
Regular cocaine and cannabis use may trigger addictive behaviors New cocaine and cannabis research reveals that regular cannabis users have increased levels of impulsive behaviour. It had previously been argued that this increased impulsivity after cannabis administration was only experienced ...

Your pain, my gain: Feeling pleasure over the misfortune of those you envy is biological

2013-10-28
Your pain, my gain: Feeling pleasure over the misfortune of those you envy is biological PRINCETON, NJ—Mina Cikara found her thesis when she wore a Boston Red Sox hat to a New York Yankees baseball game. ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

Study discusses how to mitigate damage from gunshot injuries to the brain in children and young adults

New research challenges animal dietary classifications in Yellowstone National Park

Parenthood not lessening loss for widowed people, 25 years of interviews suggest

UC Irvine astronomers discover scores of exoplanets may be larger than realized

Theory for aerosol droplets from contaminated bubbles bursting gives insight into spread of pollution, microplastics, infectious disease

AI-powered mobile retina tracker screens for diabetic eye disease with 99% accuracy

Implantable cell therapy has potential to restore adrenal function and treat primary adrenal insufficiency

Obesity and type 2 diabetes in teen years can impair bone health

Study finds strong link between acromegaly and increased cancer risk

Vapes more effective for smoking cessation than nicotine gum and lozenges

Aluminum exposure from childhood vaccines not linked to increased risk of autoimmune, allergic, or neurodevelopmental disorders

Smarter tools for policymakers: Notre Dame researchers target urban carbon emissions, building by building

Here’s how we help an iconic California fish survive the gauntlet of today’s highly modified waterways

New technique can dramatically improve laser linewidth

Forest trees and microbes choreograph their hunt for a ‘balanced diet’ under elevated CO2

Beyond health: The political effects of infectious disease outbreaks

For tastier and hardier citrus, researchers built a tool for probing plant metabolism

Stay hydrated: New sensor knows when you need a drink

Quantum internet meets space-time in this new ingenious idea

Soil erosion in mountain environments accelerated by agro-pastoral activities for 3,800 years

Optogenetic platform illuminates new antiviral strategies

A new theory explaining oscillations in tunnel magnetoresistance (TMR)

Early antibiotics alter immune function in infants

With the second grant to therapy

Research center developing digital twins for manufacturing

Colombia’s biofortified rice has untapped potential to improve nutrition. And consumers want it

Study shows pregnancy can significantly worsen risk of serious brain injury in women with arteriovenous malformations

Mapping important infrastructure could aid emergency response after hurricanes

Nighttime pistachio snacking may reshape gut microbiome in prediabetic adults

Friendship promotes neural and behavioral similarity

[Press-News.org] HPV strains affecting African-American women differ from vaccines