HPV can lead to cancer – there’s no question about that. But there’s still a lot of controversy surrounding the HPV vaccine, which can actually prevent cancer from forming.
HPV is spread through sexual contact and is extremely common in Western society. The majority of people with HPV will not get cancer, but “for about 6 to 7 percent of the population, the virus remains dormant in [their bodies], and can ultimately cause changes that form cancer,” according to Dr. Jessica Geiger, a medical oncologist at Cleveland Clinic Cancer Center.
Read More The controversy comes from the fact that it’s recommended that children get the vaccine, and a lot of parents don’t want to think about their kids becoming sexually active. “There’s a lot of ignorance and a lot of misconceptions about it,” Lillian Kreppel, who got anal cancer because of HPV, says. “People need to know that HPV can cause these cancers … they need to know about the Gardasil vaccine.”
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