Virus-Linked Oral Cancer On Rise In Men, Study Says

Usually ASk The Dubb Topics Are Done On Monday And Thursday, But Had to Make an exception today
Just Got Some Ground-Breaking News from the Charlotte Observer


More males may get throat cancer from having oral sex with women than from smoking as the result of a virus linked to the malignancy, a study suggests.

Researchers examined 271 throat-tumor samples collected over 20 years ending in 2004 and found the percentage of oral cancer linked to the human papillomavirus, or HPV, surged to 72 percent from about 16 percent, according to a report in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.

By 2020, the virus-linked throat tumors, which mostly affected men, will become more common than HPV-caused cervical cancer, the report found.

HPV is known for infecting genitals. The finding that it can spread to the throat and cause cancer may increase pressure on Merck & Co., the second-largest U.S. drugmaker, to conduct large-scale trials to see if its vaccine Gardasil, which wards off cervical cancer in women, also prevents HPV throat infections, said Maura Gillison, an oncologist at Ohio State University and study senior author.

"The burden of cancer caused by HPV is going to shift from women to men in this decade," Gillison said in a telephone interview. "What we believe is happening is that the number of sexual partners and exposure to HPV has risen over that same time period."

No further study

Pamela Eisele, a spokeswoman for Merck, said the company decided not to move ahead with a big oral cancer study "due to competing research and business priorities." GlaxoSmithKline PLC has no plans to study the company's competing vaccine, Cervarix, outside of cervical cancer, Jennifer Armstrong, a company spokeswoman, said in an email.

Gardasil is approved for preventing cervical, vaginal and anal cancers and genital warts, and is recommended for girls and women ages 9 through 26. It is also approved for preventing genital warts and anal cancer in boys and young men of the same ages. GlaxoSmithKline's Cervarix is approved for preventing cervical cancer in females ages 9 through 25.

Both vaccines target the HPV strain linked to oral cancer, Gillison said.

HPV-linked throat cancers are increasing so rapidly that by 2020 there will be 8,700 U.S. cases, with 7,400 cases in men, versus 7,700 cases of cervical cancer, the study said. Male cases alone will outnumber cervical cancer cases soon after 2020, Gillison said.

Tobacco use

Until recently, head and neck cancer mainly occurred in older patients and was associated with tobacco and alcohol use. The HPV-linked head and neck cancers, usually of the tonsils, palate or tongue, hit men their 30s, 40s, and 50s, Gillison said.

The decline in HPV-negative oral cancers mirrors the decline of smoking in the U.S., the study said.



Read more: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2011/10/04/2662164/virus-linked-oral-cancer-on-rise.html#ixzz1Zp4XrKse

So with that being said, Guys Are you gonna stop!?!?
Women are you gonna tell guys to stop for their health!?!?