The Gardasil vaccine advertisement flashes across the screen – you change the channel. Maybe you are a male and don’t think you are at risk of acquiring cancer from HPV, maybe you aren’t sexually active, or maybe you don’t have the resources to get the vaccine.
But research shows that in addition to causing cervical cancer in women, certain strains have been linked to head and neck cancers in men. The Gardasil-9 vaccine protects against nine of the most cancer-associated strains of HPV, though there are over 100 strains of HPV with possible adverse effects.
In light of this, ASU is aggressively pursuing research aimed at understanding the underlying mechanisms behind the HPV infection and exploring preventative measures to stave off the virus.Continue reading