The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Friday said a drug from Johnson & Johnson appears effective at treating a severe skin disease, but warned that its extended use may raise the risk of cancer.

Long-term use of ustekinumab may lead to increased risk of tumor development in psoriasis patients, the federal agency said on its website. The agency added that it still needs more long-term safety data to decide whether the drug increases the risk of cancer

The United States Food and Drug Administration is considering approving the cervical cancer vaccine for older women, and cutting the original allotted time for approval to four months.

Gardasil, produced by Merck & Co., has received approval for women with ages 9 to 26, has been known to stop four strains of sexually transmitted human papilloma virus, identified to cause genital warts and cervical cancer in later years of the carrier

Rates of syphilis infection have increased in the United States for the seventh year in a row, government researchers reported Wednesday. The increase in the cases is largely attributed by cases among gay and bisexual men.

According to a report by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, too few gay men are getting recommended annual screenings for syphilis and other sexually transmitted diseases. The CDC recommends that gay and bisexual men be tested for syphilis and other STDs at least once a year

One in four American teenage girls has at least one common sexually transmitted disease (STD), the new study said Tuesday. It is the first study carried out by the U.S. Center's for Disease Control (CDC) that examines the combined national prevalence of common STDs among adolescent women in the United States.

CDC says that at least 3.2 million teens aged 14 to 19 are currently infected. This accounts for 26 percent of the total girls that have human papilloma virus, chlamydia, genital herpes or trichomoniasis

Sex-related diseases affected British youth ages 16-24 the most in 2006, the Health Agency (HPA) said, warning of a continuing epidemic of HIV and sexually transmitted infections in gay men.

In 2006, over 370,000 new sexually transmitted infections were diagnosed - up 2.2 percent on 2005, the HPA said Friday