Source: www.vancouversun.com Author: Tom Spears, Canwest News Service Cancer doctors are starting to believe that the human papilloma — or HPV — HPV, intended to prevent cervical cancer, will likely prevent other cancers as well — and in men as well as women. Recent research is linking the HPV virus to a variety of cancers in the head and neck, and the urinary-genital tract, says Dr. Glenn Bauman, chairman of oncology at the University of Western Ontario faculty of medicine and a radiation oncologist at the London Health Sciences Centre. If so, the vaccine usually given to girls at the beginning of their teenage years could also benefit boys. Boys so far have not been offered HPV vaccine, although some experts argue both sexes should be vaccinated to slow the spread of papilloma. The virus is estimated to cause 70 per cent of cervical cancers and 90 per cent of genital warts. Cervical cancer is the second most common cancer for Canadian women aged 20 to 44. A variety of recent studies has been finding the DNA from the common virus inside cancer tumours. “I think the tip of the iceberg is this whole HPV connection with cancer,” Bauman said. “What’s interesting is that we’re finding — and we’ve known this for a while, but we’re beginning to appreciate it — that HPV plays a role in other ‘mucosal’ cancers.” This means a variety of cancer types in the head and neck, and also the urinary tract and genital region; [...]