A study in the Journal of the American Medical Association reported that the number of oral infection of human papillomazirus (HPV) is more common than expected. From the report, it appears HPV is being spread through sex more than through causal contact, like kissing.
In the study by Maura Gillison, a professor at the Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center, 5,579 Americans between the ages of 14 and 69-years-old were surveyed. As a result, 7 percent of the subjects were found to be currently infected oral infections of HPV. This causes serious concern because HPV has been shown to cause cervical cancer, throat cancer, and genital warts.
In addition, men were found to be three time more likely to have oral HPV infection than women, 10.1 percent and 3.6 percent, respectively. However, there remains no clear explanation why.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), about 12,200 women are diagnosed with cervical cancer a year, and about 7,100 people develop HPV-related throat cancers a year. If this observed trend continues, then by 2020, throat cancers will replace cervical cancers as the leading cause of HPV-related tumors.
The Food and Drug Administration also has approved two HPV vaccines. The vaccines have been shown to protect against vaginal, vulvar and anal cancers. Last fall, the CDC advisory panel recommended all children at age 12-years-old to receive the vaccine. This vaccine costs about $360 for three shots.
HPV is a known cause of cervical cancer, killing 4,220 women in the U.S. each year, according to the National Cancer Institute. The virus can also cause vulvar, anal, penile and various head and neck cancers. In October, a study published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology reported that more than 70% of new cases of oral cancers are caused by HPV infection.
