Background: Human papillomavirus (HPV) is a sexually transmitted infection (STI). HPV is the most common sexually transmitted infection worldwide. It is also the most common STI in adolescents. This highlights a great clinical and public health concern that must be addressed. Parents are typically involved in the clinical decision-making process of vaccine administration to children and adolescents. Therefore, understanding the acceptability of the HPV vaccination as a method to prevent STIs and certain cancers is critical. Purpose: To present the three primary themes that emerged from the literature: parental attitudes, parental beliefs and parental barrier towards vaccinating children and adolescents with the HPV vaccine. Method: A literature search using Scopus to determine parents' attitudes and beliefs towards vaccinating children and adolescents with the HPV vaccine. The initial search included the key search terms of 'children' and 'HPV vaccine' . The publication year was limited from 2006 to present. Findings: The three themes greatly influence parents' decisions to vaccinate their children.In the future, more attention needs to be paid to specific subgroups. Future research should include groups that are currently under-represented: fathers, urban populations, low socio-economic status and ethnic minorities. With the potential to prevent the majority of genital wart exacerbations and invasive cervical, penile, anal, oral-throat cancers, the new HPV vaccine represents a remarkable public health achievement (Parkins & Bray 2006). Recently, the FDA approved the quadrivalent HPV vaccine for use in males aged 9-26 years old. The oncogenic HPV types (mainly 16 and 18) are responsible for cervical cancer in women and almost all anal cancers in men and women, HPV 16 and 18 also account for 40% of penile cancers in men as well as 25-35% of oral and neck cancers in men and women (Parkins & Bray 2006). Nononcogenic HPV types 6 and 11 cause genital warts. It is necessary for the HPV vaccination to be administered prior to HPV exposure for it to offer full protection against HPV infections and its sequela. The ideal population to target for HPV vaccination is adolescents before their sexual debut. Review of the literature Literature search strategyThe search engine Scopus was used to search the literature to determine the attitudes and beliefs of parents towards vaccinating adolescents with the HPV vaccine. The initial search included the key search terms of 'children' and 'HPV vaccine' . The publication year was limited from 2006 to present. A span of 5 years was selected because of the recent licensure of the HPV vaccination by the FDA.Upon examining the literature in the last several years, it is evident that there is a shift from hypothetical intentions to vaccinate adolescents with the HPV vaccine to post-licensure studies aimed at understanding the variables to increase vaccinate uptake. Three primary themes emerged from the literature: parental attitudes towards acceptance, parental beliefs about the vaccine ...

Introduction:Cancer genome sequencing studies have discovered mutations in members of the SWItch/Sucrose Non-Fermentable (SWI/SNF) chromatin-remodeling complex in nearly 25% of human cancers. The SWI/SNF complex, first discovered in S. cerevisiae, shows strong conservation from yeast to Drosophila to mammals, contains approximately 10-12 subunits and regulates nucleosome positioning through the energy generated by its ATPase subunits. The unexpected finding of frequent mutations in the complex has fueled studies to identify the mechanisms that drive tumor development and the accompanying therapeutic vulnerabilities. Areas covered:In the review, we focus upon the potential roles different SWI/SNF subunit mutations play in human oncogenesis, their common and unique mechanisms of transformation and the potential for translating these mechanisms into targeted therapies for SWI/SNF-mutant tumors.

Unhealthy and risky behaviors among adolescents and young adults, such as poor nutrition, lack of physical activity, smoking, and sexual practices, can lead to long-term negative health outcomes. Individuals with chronic diseases in these age groups are also more prone to nonadherence in the management of their diseases. Positively influencing the voluntary aspect of unhealthy behaviors in adolescents and young adults is an important public health topic. Recent research on cell phone text messaging has emerged as a potentially efficient, real-time intervention portal to prompt healthy behaviors in these populations. The purpose of this article is to review the current state of research evaluating the effectiveness of text messaging as a health intervention for adolescents and young adults.

Persistent oncogenic human papillomavirus (HPV) infection increases the probability that precancerous anal high-grade squamous intraepithelial lesions will progress to invasive anal cancer. Anal neoplasia associated with HPV disproportionately affects HIV-infected individuals, especially men who have sex with men. Prevention is limited to HPV vaccine recommendations, highlighting the need for new treatments. The purpose of this review is to provide HIV information to nurse clinical scientists about HPV-related cancer to highlight the connection between: (a) HPV biology and pathogenesis and (b) the development of drugs and novel therapeutic methods using high-throughput screening. PubMed and CINAHL were used to search the literature to determine HPV-related epidemiology, biology, and use of high-throughput screening for drug discovery. Several events in the HPV life cycle have the potential to be developed into biologic targets for drug discovery using the high-throughput screening technique, which has been successfully used to identify compounds to inhibit HPV infections.

Human papillomavirus-related anal intraepithelial neoplasia demands attention and the development of national level policies to ensure public health and safety. Kingdon's Multiple Streams Theory has provided a pragmatic framework to evaluate the problem.

Like cervical cancer, anal cancer is caused by human papillomavirus (HPV). HPV is the most common sexually transmitted agent and is found in the anal canal of almost all HIV-positive men who have sex with men (MSM). Rates of HPV anal cancer are disproportionately higher in this population. Although the nanovalent HPV vaccine is efficacious in protecting against oncogenic HPV types, a substantial proportion of MSM remains unvaccinated and anal HPV infection continues to be an important public health burden. Therefore, it is important to identify strategies to prevent HPV infection. We report on two promising and interlinked strategies: (1) the development of a cell-based Renilla luminescence reporter assay using HPV-16 pseudovirions that encapsidate SV40-driven Renilla luminescence reporter expression plasmid and (2) use of this assay for high-throughput screening (HTS) of FDA- and internationally approved drugs to identify those that could be repurposed to prevent HPV infection. We conducted a screen of 1906 drugs. The assay was valid with a Z′ of 0.67 ± 0.04, percent coefficient of variance of 10.0, and signal-to-background noise window of 424.0 ± 8.0. Five drugs were chosen for further analyses based on selection parameters of ≥77.0% infection of HPV-16 pseudovirion-driven Renilla expression with <20.0% cytotoxicity. Of these, the antifungal pentamidine and a gamma-amino butyric acid receptor agonist securinine exhibited ≥90.0% infection with <10.0% cytotoxicity. This luminescent cell-based reporter expression plasmid assay for HTS is a valid method to identify FDA- and internationally approved drugs with the potential to be repurposed into prevention modalities for HPV infection.

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Background Treatment of anal high-grade squamous intraepithelial lesions (aHSIL) may prevent anal cancer. Options for treatment of diffuse lesions include staged ablation, often requiring surgery, although in-office treatment is preferable. Topical 5% 5-fluorouracil (t5FU) has been used to treat diffuse female genital HPV-associated disease. We report our experience using t5FU for treatment of diffuse aHSIL considered unsuitable for ablation, to evaluate its tolerability and efficacy. Methods: Patients were given t5FU for treatment of diffuse aHSIL in doses of 0.5 mL self-applied 2× daily for 5 days followed by 9 days off. Patients were assessed on average following 4–8 cycles for complete response (CR), defined as the absence of HSIL on exam, cytology and/or histology, or partial response (PR), defined as a reduction in the amount of disease. Patients with PR then received ablative therapy. Results: 73 patients (55 HIV infected, 18 uninfected) were treated, including 13 women and 60 men. In 69 patients who used t5FU for at least one cycle, CR occurred in 8 (~11%) patients, 53 (~77%) had a partial response indicating reduction of disease, 6 (9%) had no response, and 1 had more widespread disease, 1 chart was not evaluable. Treatment was discontinued after <1 cycle in 4 patients due to side effects. Patients with PR were treated successfully with in-office ablation, except 2 patients referred for surgery. Conclusions: t5FU was well tolerated although side effects occur. Most patients had clinical improvement, suggesting that t5FU may play an important role in aHSIL treatment. Further studies may determine its optimal use.