Beyond Prophylaxis: Could the HPV Vaccine be Repurposed in Skin Cancer Treatment?
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.65539/0a77sa30Keywords:
HPV vaccine, skin cancer, squamous cell carcinoma, therapeutic vaccine, immunotherapyAbstract
Counseling patients—in pediatrics, sometimes their parents—on human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination frequently includes a turn of phrase believed to be so persuasive that not only is there an entire CDC webpage dedicated to it, but it has practically become a commandment on infographics for patients on cancer prevention. This review examines recent case reports suggesting potential therapeutic use of HPV vaccines in cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma. While HPV vaccines were developed to prevent mucosal infection, there have been numerous reports of complete resolution of disseminated, treatment-resistant verruca vulgaris after quadrivalent HPV vaccination, even when the HPV type isolated from the lesions did not match the vaccine. Five recent case reports document novel use of quadrivalent and nonavalent HPV vaccines in patients with cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma, with promising results. Further exploration and controlled experimentation is warranted into whether commercially available HPV vaccines may be used as therapeutic, not just prophylactic, cancer vaccines.
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Copyright (c) 2023 Rachel Sally (Author)
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
