Name: HariShankar
Location: Mumbai
Question:What specific types of cancer are targeted by the HPV vaccine, and how does the vaccine reduce the risk of developing these cancers?
Answer:The HPV vaccine primarily prevents cervical cancer, and it was invented to prevent cervical cancer, which in those days used to be the number one cancer in most developing countries of women. It prevents cervical cancer by protecting against HPV-human papilloma virus infection.
Now all diseases or all conditions that are caused by human papiloma virus are prevented if you get vaccinated, so it's cervical cancers, cancers of the anogenital region that means of vagina, the vulva, some anal cancers, as well as warts that occur in these areas. Also, a rising incidence is seen in the West of oro-pharyngeal cancers, which are cancers of the tonsil and the base of the tongue attributed to HPV. It is supposed to prevent all these cancers. It acts by not allowing the HPV virus into your body. It gives you immunity and therefore prevents these conditions.
Name: Roshan
Location: Pune
Question:How does a cancer vaccine work to prevent cancer, and what are the underlying mechanisms of its effectiveness?
Answer:Cancer vaccines are basically of 2 types. There is a type that prevents cancer, and a classic example is the HPV vaccine. Hepatitis vaccine is another one that prevents cancer, so basically you get vaccinated against the infection and subsequently the cancer. You take these vaccines, and you get protected against infection by the human papiloma virus, HPV or the Hepatitis B virus that causes hepatitis and liver cancer. So, you prevent the infection, and you prevent the cancer.
There is another type of vaccines known as therapeutic vaccine and the most common example is what we call the BCG vaccine. The BCG is a vaccine that we take as children to prevent against tuberculosis. Now because that is used against tuberculosis, researchers found that it boosts the immunity locally when you treat bladder cancers, so for superficial bladder cancers the tumor is resected if it's not invading the muscle of the bladder, BCG is instilled in the bladder and that prevents against recurrences. So, the vaccine these vaccines connect either by preventing an infection that causes cancer or to treat cancers.
Name: Bhagya
Location: Chennai
Question:Explain the relationship between HPV infections, pre-cancers, and the role of HPV vaccination in preventing their progression to cancer?
Answer:The relationship between HPV infections and pre cancers. I'll try to make this very, very simple. When we talk about cervical cancers it goes through various stages. So, initially you have a normal cervix, then you get mild displasia also known as Mild SIN, which is intra epithelial neoplasm. That means the changes are confined to the cell, it becomes moderate and then it becomes high grade, then it goes into carcinoma in-situ that means it turns cancerous but does not come out of the cell and finally becomes invasive cancer. The HPV vaccine prevents against HPV and totally prevents against these premalignant changes. Once you've got the HPV infection or you've gone into severe displasia, or carcinoma in-situ, you cannot take the HPV vaccine and reverse the changes, you will need them to have different forms of treatment.
Name: Ashish Dutta
Location: Delhi
Question:What are the recommended age groups for receiving the HPV vaccine, and how does early vaccination contribute to long-term cancer prevention?
Answer:The recommended age groups for vaccination is usually before you get the infection of HPV. Now HPV is a sexually transmitted infection so logically the girl should be immunized before sexual contact, and that's why in foreign countries it is in the pre-pubertal stage that the girl is vaccinated. Once you have had sexual intercourse, you are at a risk of HPV and if you have got it, the HPV vaccine is less effective. In some countries it is given to slightly older girls and basically it has to be given before sexual intercourse.
Name: Chidambaram
Location: Chennai
Question:There are some controversies, some man-made and some real with regards the HPV vaccination. For a long time in our country, there was a group who felt that the HPV vaccine was not recommended, but WHO and entire global bodies have demonstrated benefits of HPV and recommended HPV vaccination among girls to eradicate cervical cancer, which is less than 4/100,000 population across the globe. So, HPV vaccine is well recognized for its utility against preventing against cervical cancer.
There are 2 other controversies which pertain the HPV vaccine. One is its cost and its availability across the country. So, because the costs are implicated, you needed to have 3 doses. There were 2 ways of overcoming this. One was research done by authorities in our country which concluded that giving 2 vaccinations would be effective to decrease the course of vaccines. Trials are on the way and have shown some benefits and made its availability easier. The last controversy is about the cost of the foreign vaccine.
Now, if you take the polyvalent, these vaccines can be any way between 8-10,000 rupees. The solution is to have indigenous vaccines which are being rolled out by Indian companies. Here, our vaccine centers and government has helped push this forward. So, the 2 ways authorities have helped is to decrease the doses, to decrease the cost and to decrease the cost by making it indigenous. The controversy about it being useful or not useful has now more or less died down.
Name: Rakhi Patel
Location: Ahmedabad
Question:What are the most effective lifestyle changes for reducing the risk of cancer?
Answer:About half or 2/3 of our cancers are because of our lifestyle and there are 3 important lifestyle modifications that can reduce the risk of cancers by half. The first is tobacco- the single most important habit. About 25 percent of all cancers worldwide are across different sites in the body. Along with tobacco, alcohol is the second habit that needs to be considered. Another important thing which is not given in these habits, not given in global literature but very rampant in our country & which does cause cancer, is the areka nut or supari. Many people believe that it is only tobacco that causes cancer, but the areka nut has been classified as a class one carcinogen by IARC, which is the international agency of research against cancer, IARC, a wing of the WHO.
The second lifestyle modification is prevention against infections like HPV infections, hepatitis infection, that is hepatitis B & C, a helicobacter infection which affects the stomach and may be a cause of stomach cancers, the Epstein bar virus, which causes cancer of the nasopharynx at the back of the nose are all examples. If you stay clean, vaccinate yourself against infections, about 15 to 20 percent of cancers would be prevented.
One of the good ways of preventing cancer is to lead a healthy lifestyle, eat healthy foods, foods rich in vitamin A, C and E. Basically green leafy vegetables and brightly colored fruits and vegetables are key to preventing cancer. Keep your weight within normal and exercise regularly. A healthy body has a lower incidence of getting cancer. Many epidemiological studies show that those people who eat a rich chemo preventive diet have a lower incidence of cancer.
And the 3rd and most important lifestyle issue that we could prevent cancers is obesity. Generally we believe that malnutrition is associated with more problems, but obesity, having more weight for your height and age, predisposes to at least 6-8 types of cancers including, uterine cancer, kidney cancer, various other breast cancer. Females who have breast cancer and continue to stay obese have a higher risk of developing a breast cancer in the opposite breast. So the 3 modifiable easy factors are habits, infection prevention, and lastly obesity.
Name: Pramod Baskar
Location: Gujrat
Question:Can you provide information on the connection between obesity and cancer risk, along with strategies for weight management?
Answer:Obesity or being overweight, predisposes to several cancers commonly also seen among women, but even among men who are overweight, breast cancer, colorectal cancer, kidney cancer, uterine cancer, pancreatic cancer and liver cancer. Now, there are various reasons why this is caused. It will be a little long to give all the explanations here, but basically, when you are obese you have more adipose tissue, adipose is fat tissue, or adiposities which are the cells that produce various types of hormones or chemical regulators. For example, if you have more fat, there's a higher excretion of estrogens. Also, other products such as insulin, insulin like growth factor, an increase in hormones and complex factors, predisposes to a higher incidence of cancer.
Name: Rohan
Location: Bangalore
Question:What are the different types of HPV vaccines available, and who should receive them?
Answer:There are 3 types of HPV vaccines available for use and approved by the FDA. The recommended age group for vaccination is usually before you get the infection of HPV. Now HPV is a sexually transmitted infection so logically the girl should be immunized before sexual contact, and that's why in foreign countries it is in the pre-pubertal stage that the girl is vaccinated. Once you have had sexual intercourse, you are at a risk of HPV and if you have got it, the HPV vaccine is less effective. In some countries it is given to slightly older girls and basically it has to do in and around a sexual majority and it should be given before sexual intercourse.
Name: Gopal Das
Location: Mumbai
Question:What are the potential benefits of getting vaccinated against HPV?
Answer:The potential benefit of getting vaccinated against HPV include prevention of major life-threatening cancers like cervical cancer, cancers of the vagina, vulva and some anal cancers.
Name: Arun Kumar
Location: Mumbai
Question:How do HPV vaccines work to prevent infections and associated cancers?
Answer:Hepatitis vaccine prevents cancer, so basically you get vaccinated against the infection and subsequently the cancer. Now all diseases or all conditions that are caused by human papiloma virus are prevented if you get vaccinated, so it's cervical cancers, cancers of the anogenital region that means of vagina, the vulva, some anal cancers, as well as warts that occur in these areas. Also, a rising incidence is seen in the West of oro-pharyngeal cancers, which are cancers of the tonsil and the base of the tongue attributed to HPV. It is supposed to prevent all these cancers. It acts by not allowing the HPV virus into your body. It gives you immunity and therefore prevents these conditions.
Name: Joe Jacob
Location: Mumbai
Question:Is intercourse necessary for HPV to spread?
Answer:HPV is a sexually transmitted infection, So, logically girls should be immunized before sexual contact, and that's why in foreign countries it is in the pre-pubertal stage that the girl is vaccinated. Once you have had sexual intercourse, you are at a risk of HPV and if you have got it, the HPV vaccine is less effective. In some countries it is given to slightly older women and basically it has to be given before sexual intercourse.
Name: Resham
Location: Kerala
Question:At what age should a person take HPV vaccine?
Answer:The recommended age groups for vaccination are usually before you get the infection of HPV. Now HPV is a sexually transmitted infection so logically the girl should be immunized before sexual contact, and that's why in foreign countries it is in the pre-pubertal stage that the girl is vaccinated.
