A study of more than 1 million boys and young men in the United States found that the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine can prevent head and neck cancers within 10 years of receiving the shot. 

About 80% of adolescents in the US had received at least one dose of the HPV vaccine as of 2024, including 64% of girls and 62% of boys, according to the data from the CDC. But these rates had remained stagnant since 2021. 

“From a global perspective, male HPV vaccination is still much less common,” said Taito Kitano, MD, chief physician in the Department of Pediatrics at the Nara Prefecture General Medical Center in Nara, Japan. 

In the study, published in JAMA Oncology, Kitano and his colleague analyzed health insurance data on vaccination status, age, and cancer diagnoses in 510,260 boys and men aged 9-26 who had received at least one dose of the HPV vaccine (average age, 13.5 years) between 2016 and 2024 and an equal number who were unvaccinated (average age, 17.2 years). 

Kitano and his colleague broke each group into 2-year age spans, such as 9- and 10-year-olds, and followed them for up to 10 years. 

They tracked HPV-related head, neck, penile, esophageal, and anal cancers, although the latter three were not observed among any of the participants during the study. The authors noted that these specific malignancies are exceptionally rare in individuals under age 30. 

However, 40 vaccinated men and 64 unvaccinated men were diagnosed with a head and neck cancer related to HPV (hazard ratio, 0.54; 95% CI, 0.37-0.81; P = .002). 

Although the majority of head and neck cancers occur in people older than age 40, “it is still interesting because it shows you that within 10 years of getting vaccinated, we are still seeing a reduction in these HPV-related cancers” among those who were vaccinated, said Glenn J. Hanna, MD, a medical oncologist at the Center for Head and Neck Oncology at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, who was not involved in the research. 

Certain factors, such as being immunocompromised, put a person at higher risk for a more severe HPV infection, which could cause early onset cancers, he said. 

The latency period for an HPV-related cancer is at least 10 years but is usually 20 or more, meaning studies that continue to follow the young men are needed, Hanna said. 

“HPV vaccination should also work for penile and rectal cancers, but to prove it, we need much larger data and longer follow up,” Kitano said. 

Only about 15% of boys and men globally have received at least one HPV vaccination. Meanwhile, about 27% of girls globally have received at least one dose and 20% are fully vaccinated, according to a 2025 study. HPV vaccination efforts still largely focus on girls and women, but clinicians should educate all patients about the benefits, Kitano said. 

“Every kid, adolescent, or young adult, irrespective of their gender, could prevent cancer by HPV vaccination,” he said. 

Data has already shown a drastic reduction in HPV cases in countries with higher vaccination rates, as well as a drop in HPV-related cancers. 

“The vaccine is very powerful in preventing HPV infections, and those seem to be linked to a reduction in HPV-related cancers across sex and cancer types,” Hanna said. 

Study authors reported receiving unrelated research grants from bioMérieux, TAUNS Laboratories, and Mizuho Medy. Hanna reported no financial disclosures.

Kaitlin Sulivan is a freelance journalist living in Colorado.