Study: HPV Sharply Increases Risk of Throat Cancer

from JoeUser Forums

More good news about HPV in this news from The Washington Post: Study: HPV Sharply Increases Risk of Throat Cancer

You know, HPV the potentially preventable sexually transmitted disease that could be prevented through the use of a vaccine, but which won't be prevented in Texas because the citizens there won a pyrrhic victory when their duly elected representatives took back the power from their governor.

Yeah, that disease.

Hmmm, how many degrees of separation can be maintained between the sexually active people in Texas and those in the rest of the country?  How about very little if you are being realistic.  Remember the chain that goes from one person to another to the people they've had sex with, and the people they've had sex with, and so on, and so on...

How many people in the chain could be carrying HPV?  Eh, don't worry about it.  Just take your chances and enjoy that sexual activity boys and girls.  HPV is just one of the potential bonuses that come along with it, never mind that it might be prevented if the HPV vaccine is used at an early enough point in young female's life.

None of what I'm saying here means that we shouldn't be educating our children and very heavily encouraging abstinence.  None of it means that we shouldn't be teaching our children about "safer sex."  None of it takes away any other measures that should be used to help stop the spread of diseases that can be transmitted through sexual activity.

But at the same time none of those things seem to be truly preventing HPV transmission in an increasingly sexually active youth segment of our population.

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Reply #1 from JoeUser Forums Top
Some of the news from The Washington Post article:
The sexually transmitted virus that causes cervical cancer also sharply increases the risk of certain types of throat cancer among people infected through oral sex, according to a study being published Thursday.

The study, involving 100 people with throat cancer and 200 without it, found that those infected with the human papillomavirus were 32 times as likely to develop one form of oral cancer than those free of the virus. Although previous research had indicated HPV caused oral cancer, the new study is the first to definitively establish the link, researchers said.

"It makes it absolutely clear that oral HPV infection is a risk factor," said Maura L. Gillison, an assistant professor of oncology and epidemiology at the Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions in Baltimore, who led the study published in the New England Journal of Medicine.

The findings could help explain why oral cancer rates have been increasing in recent years, particularly among younger people and those who are not smokers or heavy drinkers, which had long been the primary at-risk groups, experts said.

"There's been a kind of sea change in the last 10 years in who we're seeing with these cancers," Gillison said. "It makes sense with some changes we've seen in sexual behavior."

The findings provide new evidence that contradicts widespread misconceptions about oral sex.

"Many adolescents, and adults too, say they engage in oral sex as a less risky type of sex," said Mark A. Schuster of the Rand Corp. and UCLA, noting that herpes, syphilis, gonorrhea, HIV and other sexually transmitted infections can spread through oral sex. "What this article and others show is you absolutely can get serious sexually transmitted diseases through oral sex."

Much more at the original article.  Hope you enjoy the free education as you read that material.

Reply #2 from JoeUser Forums Top
A bit more from that original article:

The findings could also provide new ammunition for those advocating wide use of a new vaccine that protects against HPV. Even though the vaccine has not been tested specifically to see whether it reduces the risk of oral cancer, it is designed to protect against the type of HPV associated with the malignancy.

"This adds more data that HPV is an important cause of cancer and that this is an important vaccine," said Joseph A. Bocchini Jr., who chairs the American Academy of Pediatrics's committee on infectious diseases.

The type of oral cancer linked to HPV strikes about 11,000 Americans each year, which is about the same as the number of women diagnosed with cervical cancer.

The finding could also spur calls to vaccinate boys as well as girls because oral cancer strikes both.

"This will reinvigorate and shift the debate about who should get vaccinated," said Robert Haddad of the Dana Farber Cancer Institute in Boston.

Now, to be fair, there is also this (which mentions the folks that don't want to plow head strong into giving this vaccine to young girls):

Proponents of the vaccine have been advocating mandatory vaccination of girls, sparking an intense nationwide debate. Opponents say that the vaccine may encourage sexual activity and that its safety and long-term effectiveness are not clear because it is so new. They argue that the decision should be made by parents individually.

Two other studies published in the same issue of the journal found that the vaccine's protection against genital warts and precancerous growths lasts at least three years. Such growths can lead to cervical cancer.

Excuse me for including both sides of that argument though, as I did clip the paragraph on the effectiveness and effective duration (3 years as currently measured).

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