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Prevalence of Oral HPV Infection Higher Among Men Than Women

CHICAGO -- The overall prevalence of oral human papillomavirus (HPV) infection is approximately 7 percent among men and women ages 14 to 69 years in the United States, while the prevalence among men is higher than among women, according to a study appearing in JAMA. The study is being released early online to coincide with its presentation at the Multidisciplinary Head and Neck Cancer Symposium. Oral HPV infection is the cause of a subset of oropharyngeal [relating to the mouth and pharynx] squamous cell carcinomas (OSCC). Human papillomavirus positive OSCC are associated with sexual behavior in contrast to HPV-negative OSCC that are associated with chronic tobacco and alcohol use. At least 90 percent of HPV-positive OSCC are caused by high-risk (or oncogenic) HPV type 16 (HPV-16), and oral infection confers an approximate 50-fold increase in risk for HPV-positive OSCC. The incidence of OSCC has significantly increased over the last 3 decades in several countries, and HPV has been directly implicated as the underlying cause, according to background information in the article. Although oral HPV infection is the cause of a cancer that is increasing in incidence in the United States, little is known regarding the epidemiology of infection. Maura L. Gillison, M.D., Ph.D., of the Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center, Columbus, and colleagues examined the prevalence of oral HPV infection in the United States. The researchers used data from a cross-sectional study as part of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 2009-2010, a statistically representative sample of the U.S. population. Men and women ages 14 [...]

Charlotte Parker2012-01-26T17:50:44-07:00January, 2012|Oral Cancer News|

Oral Sex Cancer Virus More Common in Men Than Women, Study Finds

Source: Bloomberg.com About 10 percent of men and 3.6 percent of women are orally infected with human papillomavirus, which is acquired through oral sex and can cause cancer. There are two peaks in the age people are infected -- 30 to 34 and 60 to 64, according to the study published today in the Journal of the American Medical Association. The virus is linked to throat cancer, and is becoming a more common cause of the disease as Americans quit smoking. The virus, called HPV, is the most-common sexually transmitted virus in the U.S., where half the population will be infected at some time in their lives, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It is known to cause cervical, vulvar, vaginal, penile and anal cancer. The higher HPV infection rate in men explains why their head and neck cancer rates are greater, said Maura Gillison, a professor at the Ohio State University College of Medicine in Columbus. “This provides pretty strong evidence that the higher infection rate is the reason why,” said Gillison, the study’s lead author, in a telephone interview. “This is a jumping board for additional research.” Besides sex, other demographics associated with oral HPV infection include age, lifetime number of sex partners, and the number of cigarettes smoked each day. The research is the first population-based study to examine how many men and women were infected, Gillison said. Existing Vaccines Though Merck & Co.’s Gardasil and GlaxoSmithKline Plc (GSK)’s Cervarix target genital HPV, it’s [...]

Charlotte Parker2012-01-26T10:10:18-07:00January, 2012|Oral Cancer News|

Calls for teenage boys to be vaccinated against sexually transmitted virus after throat cancer cases double in UK

Source: www.dailymail.co.uk Author: Charles Walford Boys must be immunised against the most common sexually transmitted virus, health experts have said. The call comes after figures revealed an alarming rise in cancer linked to oral sex in young men. Cases of throat cancer have more than doubled to more than 1,000 a year since the mid-1990s. Previously the figure had been stable for many years. More than 70 per cent of cases are caused by human papilloma virus, compared with less than a third a decade ago. HPV, which can be transmitted during sex and open-mouth kissing, is the main cause of cervical cancer in women, with almost 3,000 women a year in the UK affected. Since 2008 all girls aged 12 to 13 in the UK have been offered a vaccination to protect them from HPV. The decision not to give it to boys too was heavily criticised at the time. Now specialists are urging the Department of Health to review its immunisation programme and offer boys the vaccine too, the Independent reports. They say this would not only ensure both sexes are protected against throat cancer, but it would help reduce the risk of cervical cancer in girls and of other cancers caused by HPV. Research suggests boys are more prone to get throat cancer from oral sex because the virus is found in higher concentrations in the female genital tract. Cancer typically takes 20 to 30 years to develop and the rise in HPV-related throat cancer is being [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2012-01-21T12:16:38-07:00January, 2012|Oral Cancer News|

Which Cancers Are Increasing Among Older Adults?

Source: AARP Cancers of the mouth and throat related to oral sex, as well as thyroid, liver and skin cancers are on the rise among older adults, according to new stats released last week from the American Cancer Society. There was some good news, however. The death rate is down for the well-known major cancers. The society’s Cancer Statistics 2012 report found that overall, cancer deaths dropped by nearly two percent for both men and women from 2004 to 2008. That may sound paltry, but Len Lichtenfeld, M.D., the society’s deputy chief medical officer, says it is more significant than it seems: Many people avoided even hearing the words “you have cancer” because advances in cancer treatment caught problems early, while still in the pre-cancerous stage, he said. The report found that death rates were down for all four major cancers — lung, colorectal, breast and prostate. The biggest drop was for lung cancer, which is down almost 40 percent in the number of men dying from the disease, thanks to fewer Americans smoking. Deaths among women from breast cancer declined 34 percent, mainly because of increases in mammogram screening and a decrease in hormone use for menopause, the ACS report said. On the other hand, some cancers are increasing, particularly among older Americans. According to Medscape News , the ACS found that people 55 to 64 years of age had the highest increase in incidence rates for liver and HPV-related oral cancers; people 65 and older also had an increase in incidence rates [...]

Charlotte Parker2012-01-10T14:48:32-07:00January, 2012|Oral Cancer News|

The one thing Rick Perry did right: A shot that stops cancer, the politics of sex and HPV prevention

Source: CultureMap.com I don’t like Rick Perry — I never voted for him and worked actively to try to oust him — but in 2006 he tried to do something good for young girls in Texas. He tried to mandate vaccinations for sixth grade girls with a drug that prevented HPV (Human Papilloma Virus), the devil behind cervical cancer. This virus is responsible for the deaths of 4,000 young women each year in the United States. When Perry announced his mandate, the shit hit the fan and his conservative base (which is most of the state) went ballistic. The social conservatives objected to the vaccine as an infringement on parental rights, and small government conservatives were alarmed at Perry’s aggressive use of executive power. Needless to say, Perry backed off, and the vaccine was off to a miserable start. Six years later, fewer than 33 percent of girls ages 11 to 26 have received all three doses of the HPV vaccine, and Perry is still paying a political price for it. Not just for girls Well, it now appears that boys aren’t “immune” from HPV’s effects. After all, girls have to get infected from somewhere, right? Doctors have observed that young men were getting throat cancers that were usually seen in older, tobacco-using men. Also, there was an increase in anal cancers. Who do you think the culprit behind this was? HPV. It turns out that HPV is the most common sexually transmitted disease: between 75 and 80 percent of [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2011-12-02T12:39:52-07:00December, 2011|Oral Cancer News|

Men in doubt still don’t get checked out!

Source: www.easier.com Author: staff Men are almost twice as likely to die from mouth cancer and statistics consistently show they are less likely to consult with a doctor than their female counterparts. But with rates of incidence and mortality rising at an incredible rate, men can no longer afford to ignore the increasing threat of a killer disease. Mouth cancer cases in the UK have almost doubled in the last decade, rising to 6,000 every year with almost 4,000 of those coming from men and although there are some clear early warning signs many postpone seeking professional advice, leaving fatality rates of the disease at 50 per cent. This is supported by data from the Office of National Statistics, which reveals that women are twice as likely to see their GP as men, visiting the doctors an average of six times a year compared to just three for men. Chief Executive of the British Dental Health Foundation, Dr Nigel Carter, puts this failing down to a lack of general cancer health knowledge in men and warns that ignoring the issue can lead to severe problems in future. Dr Carter said: "For almost all types of cancer, men will die more often than women. There's no biological reason that this should be the case so the reason must be purely down to the timing of diagnosis. Unfortunately, when men do go to their GP their condition may be at a far more advanced stage and therefore much more difficult to treat. [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2011-11-27T14:52:41-07:00November, 2011|Oral Cancer News|

The Oral Cancer Foundation Helps Sponsor HPV/Oral Cancer Study

Source: Jada.org An increase in the incidence and survival of oropharyngeal cancer in the United States since 1984 can be attributed to the human papilloma-virus (HPV) infection, say researchers in an article published online Oct. 3 in Journal of Clinical Oncology. The results of previous studies have shown that oropharyngeal cancers can be divided into two separate diseases with distinct causes: HPV-negative cancers, which are associated with tobacco and alcohol use; and HPV-positive cancers, which are linked to certain types of HPV, a sexually transmitted virus. Patients with HPV-positive oropharyngeal cancer tend to be younger than and to have better survival rates than patients with HPV-negative cancer. To determine HPV infection’s role, researchers led by Anil K. Chaturvedi, PhD, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Md., tested for HPV infection 271 archived samples of cancerous oropharyngeal tissue collected between 1984 and 2004 at three population-based cancer registries located in Hawaii, Iowa and Los Angeles in the National Cancer Institute’s Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results Residual Tissue Repositories Program. By using a variety of molecular assays, researchers found that the proportion of oropharyngeal cancers that were HPV-positive—particularly among men—increased over time, from 16.3 percent for cancers diagnosed from 1984 to 1989 to 72.7 percent for cancers diagnosed from 2000 to 2004. They also found that the incidence of HPV-negative oropharyngeal cancers declined by 50 percent between 1988 and 2004, likely due to declines in smoking and tobacco use. According to senior author Maura Gillison, MD, PhD, a professor of [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2011-11-01T09:48:55-07:00November, 2011|OCF In The News, Oral Cancer News|

Is oral sex more dangerous than smoking?

Source: www.yourtango.com Author: TresSugar Oral sex might be the new smoking. New research has found that oral sex may cause more cases of throat cancer in men than smoking thanks to HPV transmissions. In 2004, HPV caused 2.6 cases of throat cancer per 100,000 people, compared to .8 cases per 100,000 people in 1998. At this rate, by 2020 HPV will result in more throat cancer in both men and women than cervical cancer. What's making the rate go up? A higher rate of going down. Cancer researchers told the New York Times that younger people are having more oral sex because they think it's safer than intercourse. In addition to increasing awareness about the risks associated with oral sex, there may be another solution already available. The HPV vaccines currently recommended for girls could probably help prevent throat cancer when given to boys. Vaccine companies would have to test the drugs for that purpose specifically, and then health professionals would have to convince parents to vaccinate their boys against HPV. But maybe that would be easier than it's been to vaccinate girls against a potentially deadly, yet common STD, since society doesn't have the same hang-ups with male sexuality.

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2011-10-15T05:12:30-07:00October, 2011|Oral Cancer News|

Increase in oral cancers linked to HPV

Source: thechart.blogs.cnn.com Author: Saundra Young - CNN Medical Senior Producer The human papillomavirus is contributing to the growing number of head and neck cancers in the United States, according to a new study Monday in the Journal of Clinical Oncology. The study found that the number of cases of oropharyngeal cancer - cancers of the tonsil, back of the mouth (throat) and base of the tongue - has been on the rise since the mid-1980s. The study suggests that one reason could an increase in the number of people having oral sex resulting in oral human papillomavirus exposure. Researchers say these cancers fall into two categories–those caused by tobacco and alcohol and those caused by the sexually transmitted virus, HPV. They now believe approximately 70% of all oropharyngeal cancers are caused by HPV infection. "We used to think of oropharyngeal cancer as one cancer," said senior author Dr. Maura Gillison, The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center in Columbus. "Now we know the disease is comprised of two biologically and epidemiologically distinct cancers. This new understanding will increasingly enable us to improve and better personalize care for patients with each form of the disease." Researchers tested cancer tissue samples from almost 6,000 patients in Hawaii, Iowa and Los Angeles between 1984 and 2004. They found the HPV-positive cancers increased 225% while HPV-negative oropharynx cancers dropped 50%–most likely because of a reduction in smoking and tobacco use. Even so, patients with HPV-positive cancers live longer. "Patients with HPV positive cancers have [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2011-10-03T13:51:20-07:00October, 2011|Oral Cancer News|

Can HPV Vaccine Prevent Oral Cancer?

Source: WebMD.com June 23, 2011 -- Can HPV vaccines stop the explosive rise of HPV-related head and neck cancer? HPV (human papillomavirus) vaccines protect against the sexually transmitted strains of HPV that cause cervical cancer. The same HPV strains -- spread by kissing and by oral sex -- cause oropharyngeal (OP) cancer, the form of head and neck cancer that affects the back and sides of the throat, the base of the tongue, and the tonsils. There's strong evidence that HPV vaccines prevent cervical cancer. There's no direct proof that these vaccines prevent throat cancer, but the rapid rise in cases among young people has some experts wanting to vaccinate first and get proof later. "We don't need to wait until all these molecular events are understood," Dong Moon Shin, MD, of Emory University's Winship Cancer Center, tells WebMD. "The time is now. For the HPV vaccine, cost is the only issue as side effects are minimal. Routine HPV vaccination has to be implemented very soon, for both boys and girls." In the U.S., that recommendation is made by the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP). The ACIP now recommends routine HPV vaccination only for girls and young women in order to prevent cervical cancer. It permits vaccination of boys who want protection against HPV-caused genital warts. For two years, the ACIP has been mulling whether to recommend the HPV vaccine for boys. This would help prevent cervical cancer in unvaccinated women. It also would prevent HPV-related anal cancer and [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2011-06-24T08:50:47-07:00June, 2011|Oral Cancer News|