HPV Vaccination in Immunosuppressed Patients with Established Skin Warts and Non-Melanoma Skin Cancer: A Single-Institutional Cohort Study

Abstract

cSCC (cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma) and its precursors are a major cause of morbidity, especially in immunosuppressed patients, and are frequently associated with human papillomavirus (HPV) infections. The purpose of this study is to investigate the therapeutic potential of alpha-HPV vaccination for immunosuppressed patients with established cSCC and its precursors. In this retrospective study, all patients who received Gardasil-9®, a nonavalent HPV vaccine, as secondary prophylaxis were examined. Dermatologic interventions in both the pre- and post-vaccination periods were analyzed with zero-inflated Poisson regression and a proportional intensity model for repeated events with consideration of the clinically relevant cofactors. The hazard ratio for major dermatologic interventions was 0.27 (CI 0.14–0.51, p ® intervention. Gardasil-9® vaccination showed good efficacy in reducing major dermatologic interventions even after correction of relevant cofactors and national COVID-19 caseloads during the observational period. Alpha-HPV vaccination may potentially cause a significant decrease in dermatologic interventions and overall mortality as well as healthcare costs in immunosuppressed patients with high skin tumor burden.

Keywords

• HPV
• human papillomavirus
• nonavalent
• human papillomavirus vaccine
• non-melanoma skin cancer
• organ transplantation