Cancer men HPV
Today there's another risk: A sexually transmitted virus is fuelling a rise in oral cancer.
The HPV virus is best known for causing cervical cancer.
But it can cause cancer in the upper throat too, and a new study says HPV-positive tumours now account for a majority of these cases of what is called oropharyngeal cancer - of which there are 10,000 new cases a year.
While women sometimes get oral cancer caused by HPV, the risk is greatest and rising among men, researchers reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology. Cancer men HPV,
No one knows why, but it begs the question of whether the vaccine given to girls and young women to protect against cervical cancer also might protect against oral HPV.
The Journal also found that between 1988 and 2004, head, neck and throat cancers that tested positive for HPV rose an astounding 225 per cent.
If that trend continues, that type of oral cancer will become the nation's main HPV-related cancer within the decade, surpassing cervical cancer, researchers from Ohio State University and the National Cancer Institute reported on Monday.
'There is an urgency to try to figure out how to prevent this,' says Dr Amy Chen of the American Cancer Society and Emory University, who wasn't part of the new research.
HPV vaccination is approved for boys to prevent genital warts and anal cancer, additional problems caused by human papillomavirus.
But protection against oral HPV hasn't been studied in either gender, says Dr Maura Gillison, a head-and-neck cancer specialist at Ohio State and senior author of the new research.
That's important, because it's possible to have HPV in one part of the body but not the other, she says.
Cancer men HPV: A spokeswoman for Merck & Co, maker of the HPV vaccine Gardasil, said the company has no plans for an oral cancer study.
Monday's research was funded by the NCI and Ohio State. Dr Gillison has been a consultant to Merck.
Read more: dailymail
