The FDA has updated the label of Gardasil, the cervical cancer vaccine manufactured by Merck, adding new data regarding the protection it offers against two other gynecological cancers, according to Forbes.

The new label informs consumers on the fact that Gardasil may also be used to prevent cancers of the vagina and vulva.

Gardasil targets four strains of HPV, the human papillomavirus. While the four are responsible for nearly all cases of cervical cancer, two of them can also lead to several vulvar and vaginal cancers, a Merck scientist said.

As stated by Jesse L. Goodman, MD, MPH, director of the FDA's Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, "there is now strong evidence showing that this vaccine can help prevent vulvar and vaginal cancers due to the same viruses for which it also helps protect against cervical cancer.”

"With additional one-year follow-up, we now have more rigorous data," he added, also saying that the vaccine proved to be 100% efficient in clinical trials in what vulvar and vaginal cancers concern.

Gardasil is being advertised as a means to protect against cervical cancer by vaccinating against the human papillomavirus, a sexually transmitted virus that causes the disease. The vaccine was licensed in 2006 for use in girls and women aged 9 to 26.

To be most efficient, the cervical cancer vaccine should be administered before a girl begins her sexual life because there are more than 100 strains of the human papillomavirus and more than 30 of those strains can be spread by means of sex, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said.