Doctors are growing increasingly concerned over the rise of cancers linked to a common virus spread by risky sex.
Human papillomavirus (HPV) is a group of viruses most often spread through oral or penetrative sex and responsible for 95 percent of cervical cancers in women.
However, researchers said the virus is increasingly becoming associated with rising rates of cancers that affect the tonsils, tongue, throat, neck, esophagus, anus and genitals.
A lack of public knowledge of HPV has doctors concerned the spread will increase and rates of related cancers will continue to rise.
A team from Ohio State University conducted a survey last month of 1,000 people that revealed a majority held limited knowledge of or false beliefs about HPV, including being unaware HPV is actually more common in men than women.
Dr Electra Paskett, a cancer researcher at Ohio State, said: ‘This is concerning because more men are infected with HPV than women and they could unknowingly spread it to their partners.’
About 42million people are infected with HPV, according to the researchers, and 98 percent of Americans have been exposed to the virus, which can spread through saliva or sexual contact, as well as through childbirth.
Human papillomavirus (HPV) is a group of viruses that infect the cervix, vagina, vulva, penis, anus and mouth and is most often spread through oral or penetrative sex
There is no cure for HPV and most cases of the infection go away on their own, but if a person’s immune system doesn’t neutralize it, HPV can become cancerous.
However, there is a vaccine that reduces the risk of infection by up to 90 percent, and for extra precaution, people should wear condoms during sex.
To gauge public knowledge about HPV, the Ohio team surveyed 1,005 people from the Opinion Panel Omnibus platform – a twice monthly survey.
Participants were asked if they agreed or disagreed with statements relating to HPV.
Results showed many people still think it is an infection that impacts women more than men, which researchers found ‘concerning.’
Nearly half of respondents, 45 percent, did not know if HPV was linked to other cancers besides cervical, which affects 11,500 American women and kills 4,000 per year.
While it is the primary risk factor for cervical cancer in women, it is also linked to rising rates of cancers that affect the neck and throat.
Oncologists are increasingly looking at oral sex as a primary driver of an ‘epidemic’ of throat cancers as rates of a specific type – oropharyngeal cancer – have been rising since the mid-2000s.
Its main cause is HPV.
Oropharyngeal cancer is cancer of the tube-like structure that connects the nasal cavity and mouth to the esophagus and trachea.
In 2024, the National Cancer Institute reports there were 58,450 new cases and 12,230 deaths from the disease.
It has now become more common than cervical cancer in the US and the number of lifetime sexual partners is the leading risk factor for this specific type of throat cancer.
Dr Hisham Mehanna an oncologist at the UK’s University of Birmingham wrote in the Conversation that people with six or more oral sex partners in their lifetime are 8.5 times more likely to get the cancer than people who do not practice oral sex.
Second, the Ohio survey results showed 42 percent of people believed HPV was more common in women.
Human papillomavirus (HPV) is responsible for 95 percent of cervical cancers in women, but cervical cancer screenings among women have been on the decline
However, HPV is actually more common in men, but because there is only a test for HPV in women – a pap smear – people mistakenly think it only affects that population, the researchers stated.
Lastly, 40 percent believed someone with HPV will show symptoms. In fact, many people do not show symptoms and therefore may not realize they are infected and unknowingly transmit it to sexual partners.
Dr Paskett stressed the importance of the vaccine, which is recommended for people between the ages of nine and 12. While it is most effective in that age range, it is available for people up until 45.
She said: ‘We have a vaccine that has been shown to reduce the risk of HPV infection by up to 90 percent.
‘This is a powerful tool for cancer prevention that has only been available to us in the past few decades, and we are seeing the impact of those vaccines now through the scientific data.’
However, the CDC reports just 57 percent of children eligible to receive the shot have been vaccinated against HPV.
This is extremely worrying to experts, including head and neck surgeon Dr Matthew Old.
He said if the upward trend of HPV infections and neck and throat cancers continues, they could become the most common forms of adult cancer.
And recent estimates suggest oropharyngeal cancer may become one of the top three cancers among middle-aged men in the US by 2045, as well as the most common form of cancer among senior men in the next 10 years.
Dr Old said: ‘It can take years or even decades for the genetic changes caused by HPV to take effect and transform into cancer.
‘Once exposed, there are currently no treatments for HPV infections, and many who are unvaccinated unknowingly carry and spread high-risk strains of the virus. That’s why vaccination is so important.’
