Undertoad • Oct 28, 2011 4:33 pm
http://healthland.time.com/2011/10/05/hpv-linked-to-more-oral-cancers-than-smoking/
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The number of head and neck cancers linked to the sexually transmitted human papillomavirus (HPV) has increased sharply over the past two decades, and the virus now accounts for more (oral) cancers than tobacco or alcohol, a new study finds.
Overall, the risk was greatest and rising in men, and the findings suggest that it may have to do with an increase in oral sex. "We believe that sexual habits have changed, and that there is an increase in sexual activity earlier on in life, with an exchange of many more sex partners in general," Dr. Tina Dalianis of the Karolinska Institute in Sweden, who wasn't involved in current study but has conducted previous research on HPV-related oral cancer, told Reuters Health.
HPV is best known as the virus that causes cervical cancer in women, but because of better screening, the rate of such cancers has declined over time. The authors predict that if current trends continue, oral cancers may become the most common HPV-related cancer by 2020, eclipsing cervical cancer.
"The burden of invasive HPV-caused cancers will shift from women to men in the U.S., largely due to the rise of HPV-positive oropharynx cancers among men," study senior author Dr. Maura Gillison of the Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center in Columbus told CNN.
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