Gardasil, a vaccine against four types of the human papillomarivus (HPV), may reduce the risk of cancers of the vagina and vulva in addition to reducing the risk of cervical cancer.

The HPV virus can lead to precancerous or cancerous changes to the cervix, vagina, penis and anus. Researchers combined information from three clinical trials to evaluate the effectiveness of Gardasil on the risk of precancerous changes to the vulva and vagina.

The study found that among women who had not been infected with the HPV virus, Gardasil was 100 percent effective against precancerous changes to the vulva or vagina. Among those that had been infected with a certain strain of the HPV virus, Gardasil was 71 percent effective. Gardasil was 49 percent effective against all precancerous changes to the vulva or vagina.

The researchers concluded "With time, such vaccination could result in reduced rates of HPV-related vulval and vaginal cancers".

Almost all conversation and approval efforts regarding Gardasil, the new vaccine that prevents cervical cancer, has been about girls and women. Medical experts and researchers are recommending that boys and men receive the cervical cancer vaccine too. They suggest this is a necessary step if there is to be an effective elimination of cervical cancer originating from infection of human papillomavirus (HPV).

At this time, the recent approval for the vaccine only speaks to the use for girls aged 9 to 26. But both women and men become infected with HPV, and it does not make sense that only one half of the population at risk for infection are being vaccinated.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) almost 80 percent of U.S. women by age 50 will be exposed to one of the 100 strains of HPV, known to cause genital warts and cervical, vulva and vaginal cancer in women.

"Vaccine prevention strategies work when they are applied in a gender-neutral fashion," stated Bradley Monk, author of the commentary addressing this issue published in the journal Obstetrics and Gynecology. "For example, polio, measles, tetanus, pertussis, diphtheria, rubella, mumps, and Haemophilus influenza B have been nearly eliminated in the United States as a result of this strategy."