HPV related diseases in males: a heavy vaccine-preventable burden

Abstract

Human Papillomavirus (HPV) has a significant impact in male's health, as cause of clinical manifestations ranging from genital warts to several cancers of the anogenital and aero-digestive tract. HPV types which most frequently affect men are 6, 11, 16 and 18, included in the HPV quadrivalent vaccine, recently approved for use in males by Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and European Medicines Agency (EMA). Although several data about the safety and efficacy of quadrivalent vaccine are available, the implementation of proper immunization plans dedicate to male's population cannot ignore the knowledge of the characteristics of the disease in men, which in some aspects should be clarify, in particular clearance of type-specific HPV infections and transmission dynamics. Purpose of this review is to summarise the main information about the burden and the natural history of the HPV related disease in males.