Protecting against HPV
“People who have had more than five oral-sex partners in their lifetime are 250 percent more likely to have throat cancer than those who do not have oral sex,” suggests a study performed by Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Centre in Baltimore, Maryland.
With sexual promiscuity on the rise there is more stress being placed on college males and females to broaden their knowledge of HPV or the Human Papillomavirus that is now becoming the number one cause for genital warts and cervical cancer.
This virus is known to easily pass from one individual to another resulting in the transference of over 100 different strands of an infection. It can occur without any physical symptoms and has now been discovered in patients suffering from oropharyngeal or throat cancer.
A case-control study performed by the Cancer Centre ran testing on 200 individuals, 100 who were diagnosed with throat cancer and 100 without. The tests determined, “A high lifetime number of vaginal-sex partners [26 or more] was associated with oropharyngeal cancer, as was a high lifetime number of oral-sex partners [six or more].”
Maura Gillison, cancer expert and study author at the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health, identified 72 percent of the patients suffering from throat cancer had traces of HPV-16 in the examined tumors.
“Since HPV has already disrupted the cell enough to steer its change to cancer, then tobacco and alcohol use have no further impact,” Gillison said.
Researchers concluded that the HPV infection is evident in throat cancer patients with or without substance and alcohol use. Although they identified that alcohol and cigarettes were a leading cause to the occurrence of cancer, HPV was found to be present in specimens without a trace of either substance.
“It is important for health care providers to know that people without the traditional risk factors of tobacco and alcohol use can never the less be at risk for oropharyngeal cancer,” said assistant scientist Gypsyamber D'Souza, Ph.D., from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.
Medical professionals are strongly advising parents to vaccinate their children, boys and girls, in order to protect them against HPV, which can be contracted through urine, semen, saliva or skin cells of the penis and vagina.
Gardasil is FDA approved and can prevent contraction of genital HPV, but this injection has yet to be tested for its protection against throat cancer.
“People should be reassured that oropharyngeal cancer is relatively uncommon, and the overwhelming majority of people with an oral HPV infection probably will not get throat cancer,” said Gillison, who continues to recommend the use of condoms and safe sex.
Those who have already been diagnosed, the vaccine will not treat HPV, as there is no cure but should speak with a physician and abstain from any form of sexual contact.
For more information about HPV and Gardasil you can book an appointment with one of the on-site physicians at the Fowler Kennedy Clinic here at Fanshawe College in room SC1001 or call 519-452-4230
With sexual promiscuity on the rise there is more stress being placed on college males and females to broaden their knowledge of HPV or the Human Papillomavirus that is now becoming the number one cause for genital warts and cervical cancer.
This virus is known to easily pass from one individual to another resulting in the transference of over 100 different strands of an infection. It can occur without any physical symptoms and has now been discovered in patients suffering from oropharyngeal or throat cancer.
A case-control study performed by the Cancer Centre ran testing on 200 individuals, 100 who were diagnosed with throat cancer and 100 without. The tests determined, “A high lifetime number of vaginal-sex partners [26 or more] was associated with oropharyngeal cancer, as was a high lifetime number of oral-sex partners [six or more].”
Maura Gillison, cancer expert and study author at the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health, identified 72 percent of the patients suffering from throat cancer had traces of HPV-16 in the examined tumors.
“Since HPV has already disrupted the cell enough to steer its change to cancer, then tobacco and alcohol use have no further impact,” Gillison said.
Researchers concluded that the HPV infection is evident in throat cancer patients with or without substance and alcohol use. Although they identified that alcohol and cigarettes were a leading cause to the occurrence of cancer, HPV was found to be present in specimens without a trace of either substance.
“It is important for health care providers to know that people without the traditional risk factors of tobacco and alcohol use can never the less be at risk for oropharyngeal cancer,” said assistant scientist Gypsyamber D'Souza, Ph.D., from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.
Medical professionals are strongly advising parents to vaccinate their children, boys and girls, in order to protect them against HPV, which can be contracted through urine, semen, saliva or skin cells of the penis and vagina.
Gardasil is FDA approved and can prevent contraction of genital HPV, but this injection has yet to be tested for its protection against throat cancer.
“People should be reassured that oropharyngeal cancer is relatively uncommon, and the overwhelming majority of people with an oral HPV infection probably will not get throat cancer,” said Gillison, who continues to recommend the use of condoms and safe sex.
Those who have already been diagnosed, the vaccine will not treat HPV, as there is no cure but should speak with a physician and abstain from any form of sexual contact.
For more information about HPV and Gardasil you can book an appointment with one of the on-site physicians at the Fowler Kennedy Clinic here at Fanshawe College in room SC1001 or call 519-452-4230
