Peer-reviewed article
Examining HPV vaccination coverage among childhood, adolescent, and young adult cancer survivors: a report from the St. Jude Lifetime Cohort study.
Pragya Gautam Poudel, Sedigheh Mirzaei, Mengqi Xing, Tara M Brinkman, Casey L Daniel et al. ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-haiku-4-5-20251001This study examined HPV vaccination rates among childhood, adolescent, and young adult cancer survivors in the United States. Only 27% of eligible survivors initiated HPV vaccination, and 71% of those who started completed the full series. Vaccination rates were higher among females, younger survivors, those with higher education, and those with insurance coverage. The findings highlight significant gaps in HPV protection for cancer survivors who face elevated risk of HPV-related cancers.
Key points
- HPV vaccination initiation was only 27.31% among 2,907 cancer survivors eligible since 2006
- Of those who initiated vaccination, 71.16% completed the full series
- Female survivors were 2.58 times more likely to initiate vaccination than male survivors
- Having insurance (public or private) increased vaccination initiation odds by 2.0-2.26 times compared to uninsured survivors
- Survivors diagnosed with cancer at ages 9-14 and 15-24 had higher vaccination initiation than those diagnosed before age 9
Limitations
This study is observational and cannot determine causation. The findings are from one cancer treatment centre in the USA and may not generalise to other settings or countries.
Abstract
PURPOSE: Childhood, adolescent, and young adult (CAYA) cancer survivors are at risk of HPV-related cancers, yet HPV vaccination remains lower than in the general population. The purpose of this study was to examine HPV vaccination initiation and completion among CAYA survivors and to assess the influence of sociodemographic and cancer-specific factors on vaccination. METHODS: We used data from the St. Jude Lifetime Cohort, 5 + year cancer survivors, treated at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, eligible for HPV vaccination since 2006 (year of FDA licensure in the USA). Primary outcomes were HPV vaccination initiation and completion. HPV vaccination was assessed between 2011 and 2020. We performed descriptive statistics and evaluated associations using univariate and multivariable logistic regression analysis using SAS version 9.4. RESULTS: We included 2907 CAYA survivors. HPV vaccination initiation was reported by 27.31% survivors. Among those who initiated, 71.16% survivors completed vaccination series. Female survivors compared to male survivors (OR, 2.58; 95% CI, 2.10-3.17), those age 27 + compared to 9-17 years (OR, 0.21; 95% CI, 0.10-0.42), those with a college degree or higher compared to those with a high school degree (OR, 2.39; 95% CI, 1.40-4.06), and those with insurance compared to those without insurance (public, OR, 2.00; 95% CI, 1.22-3.28; private, OR, 2.26; 95% CI, 1.41-3.63) had higher vaccination initiation. Cancer diagnosed at a later age (9-14 years, OR, 1.59; 95% CI, 1.20-2.09; 15-24 years, OR, 2.01; 95% CI, 1.40-2.90) had higher vaccination initiation than those diagnosed < 9 years. CONCLUSIONS: HPV vaccination was low among survivors. We found differences in vaccination by age, sex, education, insurance coverage, and age at cancer diagnosis. IMPLICATIONS FOR CANCER SURVIVORS: These findings provide evidence to guide the development of strategies for improving HPV vaccination and reducing the risk of HPV-related cancers among survivors.
Findings the Hub has extracted
Each claim below is labelled by its type of design and links back to this report.
- Intervention
- HPV vaccination offered to eligible cancer survivors
- Population
- 2,907 childhood, adolescent, and young adult cancer survivors treated at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, eligible for HPV vaccination since 2006
Key finding
HPV vaccination initiation was 27.31% among eligible survivors
Poudel et al. · PubMed (US National Library of Medicine) · 11 Apr 2026