Rise in oral cancer among men linked to HPV
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- Published: Wednesday, 22 June 2011 11:18
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| A rapid rise in the rate of oropharyngeal cancer among men is being linked to human papillomavirus (HPV), and the number of cases could increase by almost 30% by 2020, surpassing the number of cervical cancers in women, according to research presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology annual meeting in Chicago. |
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There were approximately 6,700 cases of HPV-positive oropharyngeal cancers in the U.S. in 2010 -- up from about 4,000 in 2004 -- and the number of cases is projected to rise by 27% to 8,500 in 2020, according to lead researcher Anil Chaturvedi, PhD, of the National Cancer Institute (NCI).
Using data from the NCI’s cancer registries surveillance programs in Hawaii, Iowa, and Los Angeles, Chaturvedi and his co-authors determined the HPV status for a total of 271 oropharyngeal cancer cases reported between 1984 and 2004. They estimated trends in HPV prevalence across four calendar periods using logistic regression and found that the incidence of HPV-positive oropharyngeal cancer in men rose by 225% between 1988 and 2004.
Chaturvedi echoed other oral cancer specialists who attribute the sharp rise in such cancers to an increasing prevalence of oral sex. "We hypothesize that the increase is due to changes in sexual behavior over time," he said, "and increased oral sex behavior has led to an increase in oral HPV infections, which led to increases in HPV-positive oropharyngeal cancers."
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