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'Oral cancer risk' in men as HPV rates higher

NHS Choices Behind the Headlines, 2012

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“More men [than women] have oral cancer virus,” BBC News has reported, saying that this is “leading to an increased risk for men of head and neck cancers”.
This news story is based on research into the number of people infected with the oral human papillomavirus (HPV) in the United States.
HPV is known to cause cervical cancer, and has been the target of recent vaccines in an attempt to decrease the number of new cases of this cancer.
The number of people diagnosed with this oral cancer has been increasing in recent years, and as oral HPV is a known cause, this study aimed to identify how many people in the United States were likely to be infected with oral HPV.
The researchers found that approximately 7% of the US population aged 14 to 69 years were infected with this virus, and that men were more likely to be infected than women.
This study shows a marked difference in oral HPV infection between men and women in the United States, but it does not report the number of people infected in the UK.
It is important to remember that there are many different types of HPV, and not everyone who is infected will go on to develop cancer.
The study was carried out by researchers from Ohio State University, the US National Cancer Institute and a US company called Information Management Services.
Merck is the manufacturer of Gardasil, the cervical cancer jab that targets several strains of HPV, including type 16, which is most commonly associated with oral cancer.
This research was covered appropriately in the media, with the Daily Mail emphasising that the prevalence estimate was drawn from a US population, and pointing out that not all individuals infected with oral HPV will go on to develop oral cancer.