Podcast 176: HPV Vaccine — How many doses are needed to confer protection?

Running time: 19 minutes

We talk with Dr. Cosette Wheeler about a new Lancet Oncology paper that offers follow-up on two major trials of HPV-16/18 vaccines.

The analysis adds more data to the suspicion that although three doses of vaccine are optimal, two or even one may offer substantial protection. Wheeler is very cautious on this point, however, and insists that the goal must be to deliver three doses to every recipient. In the U.S., HPV vaccine courses are completed less than half the time.

Lancet Oncology abstract