One in nine American men has oral HPV, study finds

Oct 19, 2017 News

(CNN)About one in nine American men is infected with the oral form of human papillomavirus (HPV), according to a new study published in the journal Annals of Internal Medicine. Nationwide, rates for oral HPV infections are 11.5% of men and 3.2% of women: 11 million men, compared with 3.2 million women, the researchers estimated.
An infection with this common virus, which is transmitted through intimate skin-to-skin contact, can cause cancer in several areas of the body, including the throat, anus, penis and vagina. Nearly all men and women will become infected with at least one type of HPV, a group of 150 related viruses, at some point in their lives, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Previous studies have shown that men have higher rates of overall HPV infections than women. The research published Monday reveals the higher rates of oral HPV infections occurring among men, said Ashish A. Deshmukh, senior author of the study and an assistant professor at the University of Florida’s College of Public Health and Health Professions.
“One suspects that the HPV persists longer (means doesn’t clear easily) among men and that might be causing increased prevalence,” Deshmukh noted in an email.
“It is also possible that men acquire oral HPV more readily than women,” he said. Yet another possibility could be that, after a first infection, women develop greater resistance to subsequent infections. “Further research is needed to understand the reason behind this,” Deshmukh added.
A warning to men
Annually, an average of 38,793 cases of HPV-related cancer — 59% of them in women and 41% in men — were diagnosed in the United States between 2008 and 2012.
Yet, in each year within that time span, a type of head and neck cancer called oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma was far more likely to strike men: 12,638 cases diagnosed in men each year, compared with just 3,100 cases in women.
It is the most common of all the HPV-related cancers, and its incidence among men (7.8 per 100,000) now surpasses incidence rates of cervical cancer among women (7.4 per 100,000). Cervical cancer is known to be caused by HPV.
An HPV vaccine is available for both men and women and can protect against infection, yet many men are over the eligibility age of 26, and younger men have low vaccination rates. The CDC recommends the vaccination for adolescents.

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