Racial and gender disparities in HPV vaccination: Implications for reducing head and neck cancer

Head and neck cancer caused by human papillomavirus (HPV) is a rare form of cancer that disproportionately impacts males more than their female counterparts (11.4 per 1000,000 compared to females 3.0 per 1000,000). Despite the introduction of vaccination for HPV there has still been an increase in incidence within the past 20 years. This study investigates disparities in HPV vaccination rate and head and neck cancer amongst gender and various racial groups within Washington, DC and Maryland.

Retrospective cross-sectional study of patients vaccinated for HPV from January 2014 to December 2020. Epic EMR Slicer Dicer tool analysis of 5.8 million de-identified patients via University of Maryland clinical database. Vaccination rates and head and neck cancer incidence were compared between respective gender and racial subgroups over a 6-year period.

Females had significantly higher vaccination rates than males (58.1 % vs 41.9 %). Black females were the most vaccinated subgroup (27.6 %), while white males were the least vaccinated (16.8 %). Among vaccinated individuals, 0.13 % developed head and neck cancer. Of this percentage, there was a disproportionate representation of black females, accounting for 46.7 % of head and neck cancer cases despite having the highest vaccination rates.

Despite persistent vaccination efforts, we see an unexplained high incidence of head and neck cancer affecting black females. Targeted interventions are essential to improving health outcomes in this population.