Do HPV vaccines increase cancer risks?

Anti-vaccine doctor Pierre Kory claims that if you have already had HPV and you get the vaccine, you are more likely to get cervical cancer.

Some claims about the HPV vaccine’s risks come from a study (Study 013) where a small group of people with existing HPV infections had higher rates of cancer-related issues. However, the study also showed that other similar groups did not have these problems.

The HPV vaccine is meant to prevent changes in cervical cells, like CIN (cervical intraepithelial neoplasia), caused by HPV. It does not treat people who already have an HPV infection. In fact, people who already tested positive for HPV and had antibodies against the virus when the study started were less likely to benefit from the vaccine.

The study also found that the group with higher cancer-related issues had more risk factors to begin with, like smoking or previous cervical problems, which likely affected the results. Other studies have shown that the HPV vaccine works very well to prevent cervical cell changes in people who do not already have HPV. This supports the idea that the vaccine is most effective as a preventive tool, not as a treatment for existing infections.

Dr. Kory also claims that women reported developing symptomatic HPV after receiving the vaccine. The HPV vaccine is not a live vaccine and not even a killed vaccine. It is a subunit vaccine, meaning that it contains pieces of the virus. There is no way for the vaccine, which doesn’t contain any live virus, let alone a whole virus, to cause HPV infections. He then cites a study that claims to have found fragments of HPV DNA.

DNA fragments can no more cause an active infection than a car door handle can provide transportation.