Gardasil Indications

FDA approves Gardasil to prevent anal cancer.
The Los Angeles Times (12/22, Healy) reported, "Gardasil (human papillomavirus), the vaccine that can prevent most cases of cervical cancer in girls, has won the FDA's blessing as a vaccine to prevent anal cancer, a rare but growing diagnosis in the United States." The FDA's "approval for Gardasil as an anal cancer vaccine opens the way for the medication's maker, Merck and Co. Inc., to market the vaccine to boys and young men between the ages of nine and 26. ... But physicians are most likely to recommend the vaccine first for boys and young men who are gay but have not yet become sexually active and for young men who may engage in sexual relations with other men."
The Boston Globe (12/22, Kotz) "Daily Dose" blog reported, "Whether this increases uptake of the vaccine in teens and young adults up to age 26 -- for whom the vaccine is approved -- remains to be seen." Approximately "37 percent of teen girls have received one shot and only 18 percent of girls have gotten all three recommended shots, according to a 2009 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) survey."
According to Dow Jones Newswire (12/22, Solsman, subscription required), an FDA advisory panel previously approved the new use of the vaccine. MSNBC (12/22, Aleccia), WebMD (12/22, DeNoon), the CNN (12/22, Young) "The Chart" blog, and HealthDay (12/22, Roberts) also covered the story.