Little known sex disease MG 'could become next superbug' within a decade, doctors warn

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Oral HPV And Cancer

Scientists have known for decades about the link between the human papillomavirus (HPV) and cervical cancer. They've also known for years that an oral infection with the virus can also cause cancers of the head and neck.

However, most people who get oral HPV don't get cancer. Your body usually fights the virus before you even know you have it. But head and neck cancers are on the rise, and scientists say oral HPV may be the cause.

The good news? You can take basic steps to prevent infection and protect yourself from cancer.

About 7% of Americans have oral HPV. That's far fewer than the number who have the genital version, which is the most common sexually transmitted disease in the U.S.

Scientists are still learning how oral HPV spreads. Only a few studies have looked into how people get infected. Many doctors suspect it's passed on through oral sex, but no one can say for sure. It's also uncertain if you can get the virus from deep "French" kissing. But it is clear that you can't get oral HPV from casual contact, like kissing on the cheek or sharing a drink with an infected person.

You may never know you have HPV. The virus doesn't cause symptoms, and most of the time, your immune system clears the infection from your body within 2 years. But in some cases, after many years, the virus can lead to cancer of the head or neck.

More than 40 types of HPV can infect people, but only a few cause cancer. One of the types that causes most cervical cancers, called HPV16, is also linked with most HPV-related head and neck cancers.

When HPV infects cells, it causes them to physically change. If your immune system can't fight the infection, those changes can lead to tumors. They usually develop in the throat, near the tonsils, at the back of the roof of the mouth, or at the base of the tongue.

It takes a long time for the virus to make enough changes to cells to cause tumors. You can be infected for 10 years or more before a cancer develops.

The CDC estimates that roughly 11,600 Americans are diagnosed with HPV-related head and neck cancers each year. Men are three times more likely to get them than women. They're most common in people under age 60, especially those in their 30s and 40s.

Head and neck cancers are serious diseases, but doctors have found that HPV-related tumors respond very well to treatment.

Vaccines for women and men can prevent an infection from the HPV strains that cause cervical cancer. Can they also protect against an oral infection and head and neck cancer?

Possibly. Scientists made the available vaccines, Gardasil and Cervarix to prevent cervical, vulvar, vaginal, anal, oropharyngeal and other head and neck cancers. But since the vaccines work by preventing an HPV infection, many doctors think it's likely they can prevent any kind of cancer caused by the strains of the virus that are included in the vaccine.

Besides the vaccines that are available, it's always a good idea to practice safe sex. Condoms and dental dams can help prevent oral STDs.

It may also help to strengthen your body's immune system, so it can fight infections like oral HPV. Make these healthy habits part of your daily life, and tell your doctor if you need help getting started:

Mayo Clinic: The Link Between HPV And Throat Cancer

There are more than 100 strains of HPV. Some types of the virus can cause cancer. HPV 16 has been linked to the rising cases of oropharyngeal cancer, commonly known as throat cancer. It is the most common HPV-associated cancer in men, and the rate of infection continues to increase.

Dr. Katharine Price, a medical oncologist with the Mayo Clinic Comprehensive Cancer Center, says that while HPV-related throat cancer is often curable, prevention is best.

Oropharyngeal cancers are the most common HPV-related cancers, and they occur more frequently in men. About 60% to 70% of head and neck cancers are linked to the virus. Dr. Price explains where it often develops.

"Largely in the oropharynx — this part of the throat that is at the tonsil and then circling around to the back of the tongue, and it's where all of this lymphoid-rich tissue lives," she says.

Preventing throat cancer

These cancers are treatable, but prevention is always better, starting with the HPV vaccine.

"It's a vaccine that is recommended for all boys and girls, at age 11 and 12. That's when it's on the routine recommendation list for vaccines, although you can actually give it as early as 9," Dr. Price says.

The vaccine is available to people through age 45.

"It's much better to get a vaccine that's safe, that has no long-term side effects or complications than to have to go through surgery, radiation, chemotherapy," says Dr. Price.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has more information on the vaccine dosage and schedule for children and adults.

Along with vaccination, you can reduce risks by avoiding tobacco and limiting alcohol use.

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HPV Infection In Men

Much of the information about HPV virus (human papillomavirus) centers on women, since having the virus increases their risk of getting cervical cancer. But HPV virus in men can cause health problems, too. It's important for men to understand how to reduce the risks of HPV infection.

HPV infection can increase a man's risk of getting genital cancers, although these cancers are not common. HPV can also cause genital warts in men, just as in women.

More than half of men who are sexually active in the U.S. Will have HPV at some time in their life. Often, men will clear the virus on their own, with no health problems.

Some of the types of HPV associated with genital cancers can lead to cancer of the anus or penis in men. Both of these cancer types are rare, especially in men with a healthy immune system. The American Cancer Society (ACS) estimates that in 2022, about 2,070 men in the U.S. Will be diagnosed with cancer of the penis and 3,150 men will be diagnosed with anal cancer.

The risk of anal cancer is about 17 times higher in sexually active gay and bisexual men than in men who have sex only with women. Men who have HIV (human immunodeficiency virus) are also at higher risk of getting this cancer.

Most cancers that are found in the back of the throat, including at the base of the tongue and in the tonsils, are HPV related. In fact, these are the most common HPV-related cancers found in men. More than 13,000 new cases are diagnosed in men each year.

Other types of HPV virus rarely cause cancer in men, but they do cause genital warts. At any given point in time, about 1% of sexually active men in the U.S. Will have genital warts.

The types of high-risk HPV that can cause cancer rarely present any symptoms in men or in women. Genital warts are the first symptom you may see with low-risk HPV strains that cause warts but not cancer.

To diagnose genital warts in men, the doctor will visually check a man's genital area to see if warts are present. Some doctors will apply a vinegar solution to help identify warts that aren't raised and visible. But the test is not foolproof. Sometimes normal skin is mistakenly identified as a wart.

There is no routine test for men to check for high-risk HPV strains that can cause cancer. However, some doctors are urging anal Pap tests for gay and bisexual men, who are at higher risk of anal cancer caused by HPV. In an anal Pap test, the doctor collects cells from the anus, and then has them checked for abnormalities in a lab.

There is no treatment for HPV infection in men when no symptoms are present. Instead, doctors treat the health problems that are caused by the HPV virus.

When genital warts appear, a variety of treatments can be used. The patient can apply prescription creams at home. Or a doctor can surgically remove or freeze off the warts.

Early treatment of warts is discouraged by some doctors because genital warts can go away on their own. It can also take time for all warts to appear. So a person who treats warts as soon as they appear may need another treatment later on.

Anal cancer can be treated with radiation, chemotherapy, and surgery. The specific treatments depend on the stage of cancer -- how big the tumor is and how far the cancer has spread.

In the U.S. Gardasil 9 is available to prevent HPV infection, cervical, and anal cancer. It can be given to men and women as young as age 9 through age 45.

If a man's long-term sexual partner has HPV, chances are good HPV transmission has already occurred and they also have it. HPV in men may clear from the body more easily than in women. Women, in general, often clear the virus in two years or less.

The HPV types associated with cervical cancer usually do not cause health problems for a heterosexual man having sex with an HPV-infected woman.

If a partner has HPV, it does not necessarily mean they have had sex with someone else recently. The virus can lay dormant in the body for years without causing noticeable symptoms.

Abstinence is the only sure way to prevent HPV transmission. Risk of transmission can be lowered if a person has sex only with one person who is not infected and who is also monogamous.

To lower the risk of HPV transmission, men can also limit the number of sex partners and pick partners who have had few or no partners in the past.

Condoms can provide some protection against HPV transmission. Unfortunately, they aren't 100% effective, since HPV is transmitted primarily by skin-to-skin contact. The virus can still infect the skin uncovered by the condom.

In a recent study of young women who had just become sexually active, those whose partners used a condom each time they had sex were 70% less likely to get an HPV infection than were women whose partners used a condom less than 5% of the time.

What is HPV