Warning: This article contains discussion of cancer which some readers may find distressing.
An expert has explained why men appear to be disproportionately affected by HPV-related oral cancers.
HPV, or human papillomavirus, is the most common sexually transmitted infection in the US. While most HPV infections clear on their own, there are more than 200 strains of the virus, and about 14 are known to cause cancer.
The CDC say nearly all sexually active people will get at least one type of HPV at some point in their lives, and about 10 per cent of men and 3.6 per cent of women are known to have it. Many people clear the virus within one to two years.
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It can take decades, however, for the infection to actually cause cancer in the back of the throat, known as throat cancer, or oropharyngeal cancer.
Michael Douglas was diagnosed with throat cancer in 2010, and although the actor said publicly that the stage four disease was possibly linked to oral sex, the film star acknowledged other risk factors like being a smoker and a drinker.
Why are men more likely to be diagnosed with HPV cancer than women?
Around two in three new HPV-related head and neck cancer cases in the UK are in men.
Karis Betts, a cancer epidemiologist from Cancer Research UK, told LADbible that 'it can take decades' for HPV to show up.
On why men often face higher rates of HPV cancers, the expert further explained: “There are studies that look at risk for different people. Straight women who have sex with men have a higher risk than women who have sex exclusively with women. And men who have sex with men have higher risk than straight men.
“The HPV vaccine is also available up to age 40 for men who have sex with men because the risk is slightly higher.
“Men have higher rates of head and neck cancers than women. This kind of historically links to other risk factors as well.
“If you look a few decades ago, there were really high rates of smoking in men, high rates of alcohol, and they’ve consistently been higher than women.
“Men have higher rates of head and neck cancers, particularly in the mouth and throat, and these cancers are also caused by other things that are more prevalent in men.”
She stressed that 'smoking and alcohol are going to be much bigger drivers of head and neck cancers than HPV'.
How to avoid HPV-related throat cancer
HPV spreads through close skin-to-skin contact, including vaginal, anal and oral sex, touching, and sharing sex toys. While condoms can help, 'they’re not 100 percent effective'.
“The big kind of preventable measures against HPV in the population are vaccination and cervical screening,” Betts said.
“Vaccines kind of work best, and that's why they work best at that school age, because it's before people have had any exposure to the virus.
“If people are worried about their cancer risk, the best things that they can do, especially for head and neck cancer, is to not smoke, or stop smoking, and reduce their alcohol intake.
“Things like that will have a much bigger benefit on your cancer risk than kind of worrying about an HPV infection.”
She stressed that 'the advice isn’t going to be stop having sex', adding: "People should live and enjoy their lives, and sex is part of that."
What are the symptoms of throat cancer?
According to the Cleveland Clinic, symptoms and causes of throat cancer include:
- Persistent sore throat
- Pain or difficulty swallowing
- Trouble opening your mouth or moving your tongue fully
- Unexplained weight loss
- Constant or unexplained ear pain
- A lump in the back of the throat or inside the mouth
- A lump or swelling in the neck
- Coughing up blood
- A white patch on the tongue or inside the mouth that doesn’t disappear
If you’ve been affected by any of these issues and want to speak to someone in confidence, contact Macmillan’s Cancer Support Line on 0808 808 00 00, 8am–8pm seven days a week.
Topics: Sex and Relationships, Health, Cancer
Anish Vij