About a year ago, Mandy Ki'aha heard about a new cervical cancer vaccine for women.

The vaccine, Gardasil, which blocks four types of the common human papillomavirus, or HPV, associated with cervical cancer, was licensed by the Food and Drug Administration in June. Ki'aha didn't hesitate to sign up. She got the first of three shots in October.

"I see the prevalence (of HPV) and it's preventable," said Ki'aha, 25, who works for the state Department of Health in STD intervention.

Cervical cancer is associated with exposure to HPV — and while not all forms of HPV cause cancer, the odds of becoming infected with one of the HPV strains, for anyone who's sexually active, are greater than 50 percent.

Between one-half and three-quarters of men and women who have sex during their lifetime will be infected with at least one type of HPV, according to the American Cancer Society.

In Hawai'i, about 61 women statewide are diagnosed with invasive cervical cancer each year, and about 12 women die from it. Until the development of the vaccine, the primary method of fending off cervical cancer has been detection via Pap smears and after-the-fact treatment for abnormal developments detected in the cervix.

"Obviously, a vaccine to prevent cervix cancer and its associated complications represents a major public health breakthrough," said Dr. Keith Terada, a gynecologic oncologist at The Queen's Medical Center.

The vaccine works by preventing four of the dozens of strains of HPV, the most prevalent sexually transmitted disease. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have recommended that all females between ages 9 and 26 get the vaccine. (Merck & Co., the manufacturers of Gardasil, is testing a vaccine for women up to age 45.)

The vaccine is given as three shots over a six-month period. And it's not cheap. A full three-shot series can cost as high as $495 in Hawai'i. Recently, though, medical insurance companies have started to cover a substantial portion of the cost for the vaccine.

Ki'aha, for example, only had to pay 10 percent of the cost of the vaccine. (Her insurance covered the other 90 percent.)

Because of the financial help from insurance companies, doctors are seeing more women inquire about and make appointments for the vaccine.

"Most people were taking the attitude of 'wait and see,' " Terada said.

Dr. Leticia Diniega, an ob-gyn with practices in Honolulu and Waipahu, has seen an increase in interest in the vaccine since it was licensed in June. On average, she administers between five and 10 vaccines a month.

Diniega encourages her patients to consider the vaccine, especially if they are or are about to become sexually active.

Two types of the virus — types 16 and 18 — cause about 70 percent of all cervical cancers, and the new vaccine protects against this. In addition, it also guards against the two types — 6 and 11 — that cause about 90 percent of genital warts cases.

"So the numbers are good," Diniega said.

But experts warn that the vaccine doesn't replace regular Pap smears, considered one of the most effective cancer screenings.

"It doesn't mean that people don't need checkups," Terada warned. The vaccine only protects against that 70 percent of the potential cervical cancer cases caused by the viruses it neutralizes. But when combined with the early detection offered by the Pap smear, it's a source of potent protection.

Developed by Dr. George Papanicolaou in the 1940s, the Pap smear, which detects pre-cancerous cells, has taken cervical cancer from the top source of cancer deaths among American women to 13th.

The Pap smear has reduced cervical cancer rates in the United States by more than 70 percent, according to the National Cervical Cancer Coalition.

If cervical cancer is caught early, treatment is more likely to be successful.

"You still have to come in for your annual checkups," Diniega said. "There are more than 30 different types of HPV (that can be transmitted sexually). ... The vaccine is not 100 percent."

Reach Catherine E. Toth at ctoth@honoluluadvertiser.com.