Papillomavirus: can cancers linked to this virus really be “eradicated”?

in collaboration with

Dr Yvon Le Flohic, general practitioner

The communication from the Elysée was formal: before the visit of the President of the Republic Emmanuel Macron to Jarnac, in a college in the town of Charente, to attend a vaccination session for students, his entourage spoke of an announcement which was intended to “eradicate certain cancers”. Is it really possible?

What was the President of the Republic’s announcement?

Twenty-four hours after this visit, we now know what it is: Emmanuel Macron announces the implementation of vaccination against the papillomavirus for fifth graders in college, from the start of the next school year. Can this type of decision make it possible to eradicate cancers linked to this virus?

More than 200 types of papillomaviruses

To get an answer to this question, we interviewed Dr le Flohic, general practitioner and member of the Doctissimo expert committee. “I remind you that vaccination against the papillomavirus protects against so-called oncogenic viruses, but it is a bit strong to speak of eradication” first notes the doctor. “Indeed, there are about 200 different types of papillomaviruses, of which 120 are sequenced and it is the 9 most oncogenic which are avoided by vaccine protection.” he adds. “And even” he shades quickly, “until 2020, only four viruses were included in the vaccine protection, so people vaccinated before 2020 are not protected for the other five”.

“Be careful not to replace screening with vaccination”

For Dr Le Flohic, however, the HPV vaccination is a good thing. “In some countries, which have vaccinated a lot, the number of cancers has dropped, as in Australia, for example. The greatest specialists agree to give a certain merit to the vaccination” he presses. But according to him, the risk would be that in the collective mind, vaccination ends up replacing screening actions. “This should not replace the screening smear in women, for example.

A “politicization” of health issues

Finally, the last two elements that bother the doctor are “politicization“of certain acts of public health.”After what we have experienced with the vaccination against Covid-19, this is the best way in my opinion to make some people refractory to the vaccine, it is counterproductive and it is a shame”. Finally, he rightly points out, “What we never mention, in relation to this vaccine, is the fact that it saves many women a restrictive cycle of care, when they are diagnosed with oncogenic HPV: this involves close monitoring with regular consultations, conizations, which are quite painful and expensive acts too… It is important in my opinion to emphasize that the vaccine can protect against all this“.