HPV vaccine costs grow with age

An expensive vaccine aimed at preventing cervical cancer makes sense for young teens when it comes to cost-effectiveness, but not for women in their 20s, contends a new report.

The vaccine against the HPV virus was licensed in 2006 for use in girls and women ages 9 to 26. Health officials recommend it for girls at age 11 or 12, and some doctors offer it to women in their 20s in "catch-up" vaccination campaigns.

The maker of the Gardasil vaccine, Merck & Co., also wants to market it to women ages 27 to 45, but so far the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has denied that request.

The government-funded study found the HPV vaccine is very cost-effective when given to girls at age 12, but raises questions about the value of pushing for vaccinating adults.

Two researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health did the study, one of the most sophisticated analyses of the issue so far.

Gardasil is given in three doses over six months. It targets the two types of HPV, or human papillomavirus, believed to be responsible for about 70 percent of cervical cancer cases, and two other types that cause most genital warts.

Researchers used computer models to predict the health outcomes of women who get the vaccination. The figure would rise if a booster shot is needed, but would still be under the cost-effective threshold, experts said. Vaccinating "catch-up" campaigns for women in their 20s, however, would not be cost-effective, the researchers said. They didn't calculate cost-effectiveness of vaccinating women ages 27 to 45, but a trend seems clear, said Jane Kim, the study's lead author.

"As you get older, the vaccine becomes less cost-effective," she said.