Despite widespread HPV vaccination, a comprehensive synthesis across populations and cancer outcomes is lacking. This umbrella review evaluates HPV vaccination's population impact on infection, precancerous lesions, and invasive cancers. We searched five databases for meta-analyses reporting prophylactic HPV vaccine outcomes up to Jan 2026. Two reviewers performed selection, data extraction, AMSTAR-2, and GRADE. From 34 meta-analyses, RCTs in HPV-naïve women showed 99% efficacy (95% CI: 98-99%) against HPV16/18 infection, 96% against CIN2+, and 89% against anogenital warts. Observational studies found relative risks of 0.12-0.36 (HPV16/18) and 0.48-0.68 (CIN2+). In men, effectiveness against warts was 74-90%. Ecological studies reported reductions in cervical cancer of 57-88%. GRADE certainty was high for infection/warts, moderate for precancer, and low for invasive cancer. HPV vaccination is highly effective. Invasive cancer prevention evidence is promising but emerging. Further research in immunocompromised populations is needed.
Rahim et al. (Mon,) studied this question.
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