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October 2015 | Read this issue and more at www.healthandwellnessmagazine.net |
HPV and Cancer
High-risk types of virus
responsible for most cancer
cases
By Angela S. Hoover, Staff Writer
In 2013, actor Michael Douglas
made headlines by claiming his
tongue cancer (he originally said
throat cancer but later amended
it) was caused by performing oral
sex. This September, Iron Maiden
frontman Bruce Dickinson also
attributed his stage 3 tongue cancer
to the sexually transmitted human
papilloma virus (HPV).
HPV is the most common sexually transmitted infection. In fact,
HPV is so common that nearly all
sexually active men and women
get it at some point in their lives.
HPVs are a group of over 200
related viruses. More than 40 HPV
types can be easily spread through
direct sexual contact from the skin
and mucus membranes of infected
people to the skin and mucus membranes of others. The Centers for
Disease Control (CDC) estimates
more than 90 percent of men and
80 percent of women who are sexually active will be infected with at
least one type of HPV at some
point in their lives. Around half
of these infections are a high-risk
HPV.
HPV is different from HIV and
herpes (HSV). Other types of HPV
cause genital warts, but they are
not sexually transmitted and do not
cause cancer. Sexually transmitted
HPV types fall into two categories.
Low-risk HPVs do not cause cancer
but can cause skin warts (condylomata acuminate) on or around
the genitals, anus, mouth or throat.
HPV types 6 and 11 cause 90 percent of all genital warts and can also
cause recurrent respiratory papillomatosis, a less common disease
in which benign tumors grow in the
air passages leading from the nose
and mouth to the lungs. High-risk
HPVs can cause cancers. About a
dozen high-risk HPV types have
been identified. Two of these, HPV
types 16 and 18, are responsible for
most HPV-caused cancers.
HPV can be contracted from
oral, vaginal and anal sex with
someone who has the virus. It can
be passed on even when an infected
person has no signs or symptoms.
Additionally, a person can develop
symptoms years after having sex
with someone who is infected. In
most cases, HPV goes away on its
own within one to two years and
does not cause any health problems.
People with weak immune systems
may be less able to fight off HPV
and more likely to develop health
problems from it. Some HPV infections can persist for many years.
Persistent infections with high-risk
HPV types can lead to cell changes,
which, if left untreated, can progress to cancer. HPV can cause cervical, vulva, vaginal, penile and anal
cancers. It can also cause cancers in
the back of the throat, including the
base of the tongue and tonsils (oropharyngeal cancer).
Cancer often takes years, even
decades, to develop after a person
gets HPV. At present, there is no
way to know which people who
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have HPV will develop cancer or
other health problems. There is no
test to determine if one has HPV.
Additionally, there is no approved
test to find out if there is HPV in
the mouth or throat. There are
HPV tests that can be used to
screen for cervical cancer. These
tests are recommended for screening only in women aged 30 years
or older. Most people with HPV
do not know they are infected and
never develop symptoms or health
problems from it. About 79 million
Americans are currently infected
with HPV.
Data from 2006 to 2010 show
that about 33,200 HPV-associated
cancers occur in the United States
each year – 20,600 among females
and about 12,600 among males.
Cervical cancer is the most common HPV-associated cancer among
women, and oropharyngeal cancers
(cancers of the back of the throat,
including the tongue and tonsils)
are the most common among men.
Generally, HPV is believed to be
responsible for more than 90 percent of anal and cervical cancers,
about 70 percent of vaginal and vulvar cancer and cancers of the oropharynx and more than 60 percent
of penile cancers.