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Mayo Clinic Minute: Vaccinate against throat cancer?
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The same virus that's the leading cause of cervical cancer is also the leading cause of throat cancer. HPV is also the most common sexually transmitted infection, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
"The best prevention that we have now is the vaccine," says Dr. Geoffrey Young, a Mayo Clinic head and neck surgeon. The CDC recommends HPV vaccination for cancer prevention, beginning at 11 or 12, for boys and girls.
A recent study released by the American Society of Clinical Oncology found that the high-risk, cancer-causing strain of HPV infection was 88 percent lower overall among those who'd had least one vaccine dose and 100 percent lower in young men. Men are four times more likely than women to develop HPV-derived throat cancer, according to the Oral Cancer Foundation.
"The good news with this cancer is that it's very responsive to treatment," says Dr. Young. Dennis Douda reports.
Journalists: A broadcast-quality video package (0:58) is available in the download. Read the script.
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