HPV: Why Thousands Of People -- Mostly Men -- Are Getting Throat Cancer
Science and medicine reporter Matthew Herper writes at Forbes that, like JP Morgan CEO Jamie Dimon, thousands of people are getting throat cancer. He quotes Eric Genden, chief of head and neck oncology at the Mount Sinai Hospital in New York. "This is an epidemic":
It's very possible that Dimon has been swept up, along with thousands of other men, by an increasingly common disease: throat cancer caused by infection with the human papilloma virus, or HPV....In 2008, the last year for which data are available, the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention estimate that 2,370 women and 9,356 men developed HPV-caused head and neck cancer, about a third of the cases of head and neck cancer that year.
But Genden says that 70% to 90% of head and neck cancer cases worldwide are now caused by HPV; the American Cancer Society estimates that this year, there will be 42,440 cases of head and neck cancer in the U.S.
Traditionally, head and neck cancer patients were older men who smoke and drank heavily. The alcohol and tobacco damaged the cells in the throat, eventually leading to cancer.
HPV-caused cancer is different. The men (and it's still mostly men) who get it are younger. In a series of cases at Mount Sinai, they were between 35 and 65.
...How do you get HPV cancer? HPV is sexually transmitted. It's mainly known as a cause of cervical cancer, which is what happens when it infects women. But men can get it by performing cunnilingus. It's also possible, though less likely, that it can be transmitted by kissing. Eighty percent of sexually active people between the ages of 14 and 44 have had oral sex with an opposite sex partner. Researchers estimate that HPV throat cancer in men will be more common than cervical cancer in women in the U.S.
Most strains of HPV do not cause cancer, either in the throat or the cervix. And most HPV infections are cleared by the body. But in a minority of cases, perhaps 10%, they persist. If the strain is of the right variety - for instance, the HPV 16 strain of the virus - this infection can eventually lead to cancer. When it comes to throat cancer, this process takes decades.
On the one hand, it's terrible that so much cancer is going around, but on the other hand, it does go to show that men are more inclined to, um, provide certain favors than they might have been in previous generations.
Farmer Joe at July 3, 2014 9:12 AM
It's not just men who perform cunnilingus. Is there also an upswing in women getting throat cancer, or are they only at risk of cervical cancer?
Fayd at July 3, 2014 9:29 AM
Fayd, There may have been a change in men's behavior, but not women's. (In other words, lesbians may have always been doing it, whereas men recently started doing more of it.)
Farmer Joe at July 3, 2014 9:50 AM
Interesting data, but as always with today's disease research, the question must be asked: how do you know that A causes B? Do you have any evidence that demonstrates an actual mechanism, or are you relying solely on statistical correlation? 11,00 people in one year sounds bad, but as a wild guess, I'll bet that the number of people who engaged in oral sex in the U.S. in 2008 was orders of magnitude higher that that.
The number of people age 18 or over in the U.S. is about 241 million, based on the Census Bureau's 2013 estimate. Let's say, as a conservative guess, that 10% of them engage in oral sex at least semi-regularly, so thats's 24.1 million adults. Adding a population inflation factor from the 2008 cancer numbers, let's figure 14,000 cases of throat cancer that are supposedly traceable to an HPV. That means that your odds of getting throat cancer from an HPV per year are about 0.05%. I'm not finding that argument very persuasive.
(Note also in regard to the number of men, there's this: The market for chewing tobacco is almost exclusively male, about 90% according to the National Institutes of Health.)
Cousin Dave at July 3, 2014 9:59 AM
I imagine if there had been a similar jump in throat cancer for women, we'd be hearing about it, so I assume there hasn't been. It makes sense that men have higher rates of HPV-positive throat cancer than women because men tend to drink and smoke more than women (yes, I understand that HPV+ cancer is different from the old kind that is caused primarily by smoking and drinking, but it seems like people who expose their throats to a carcinogenic smoke and a carcinogenic virus are probably at a greater risk).
If tobacco use continues to fade out and people vaccinate their daughter and sons against HPV (and pharm companies continue research into a more comprehensive HPV vaccine) we could see the trend reverse.
Jenny had a chance at July 3, 2014 10:17 AM
I had actually heard about the link between mouth/throat cancer and HPV several years ago. A friend's male cousin was going through treatment for mouth/throat cancer about 8 years ago and his doctors told him then they suspected the HPV link. He is a white male, mid-40's, doesn't use tobacoo and a light drinker. Since then, I've warned every male friend I have to watch what they eat...the risks just aren't worth it.
sara at July 3, 2014 10:17 AM
The question isn't are the cases going up per year, but is the lifetime likelihood of getting it increasing.
Given that population goes up, the raw numbers are expected to go up. Given that the population is aging (more older people than younger) we expect the percent of people diagnosed with age-related diseases to increase as part of the population. Since throat cancer takes decades (per above) to develop from the point of infection, this is particularly relevant (as opposed to something that tends to show up quickly such as age-related complications to infection).
Shannon M. Howell at July 3, 2014 10:31 AM
I'm not a scientist, IANAS, but perhaps men are more susceptible to mouth and throat cancers in general.
Also in gross numbers how many lesbians are there vs. hetero men? I suspect there are more hetero men.
Janet C at July 3, 2014 11:23 AM
Also in gross numbers how many lesbians are there vs. hetero men? I suspect there are more hetero men.
Posted by: Janet C at July 3, 2014 11:23 AM
Mouth to genital contact is mouth to genital contact. I would bet the rates in gay men are increasing also, if the increase isn't completely overshadowed by other sexually transmitted diseases that have more short term lethality like Hepatitis.
Isab at July 3, 2014 11:58 AM
7 Billion people tell Jamie Dimon to kiss their ass.
300 Million Americans tell Jamie Dimon to suck their dick.
But Jamie Dimon eats just one pussy...
jerry at July 3, 2014 12:04 PM
Another reason to get your children vaccinated for HPV. Before they start exploring their sexuality. How many people are going to get throat cancer because of anti-vaccine ignorance?
Bill O Rights at July 3, 2014 12:20 PM
The boys need to be getting the Gardasil shots, but at first it had been being promoted to girls so much that I'm not sure there is a turnaround yet. I hope they get that series reduced to one because it's just easier to randomly get one versus 3 shots. And also, they hurt like a sumbitch.
gooseegg at July 3, 2014 6:29 PM
not meaning JUST the boys, I'm meaning boys as well as girls. Geesh I need to proofread first.
gooseegg at July 3, 2014 6:32 PM
From the article: But men can get it by performing cunnilingus.
Well, I'm safe, then. Yeech.
Patrick at July 3, 2014 6:33 PM
But Patrick!!! Don't you want to have the qualifications to bag a babe like Catherine Zeta Jones? This is a qualification that ranks pretty high on the list that makes a man, a man.
http://www.bostonglobe.com/lifestyle/health-wellness/2013/06/09/michael-douglas-blames-throat-cancer-oral-sex-what-are-risks/Akb38cr5CCvj2HUKXJ5SCP/story.html
gooseegg at July 3, 2014 6:52 PM
Worth it. Totally worth it...
kona4breakfast at July 4, 2014 1:32 AM
From the article: But men can get it by performing cunnilingus.
Well, I'm safe, then. Yeech.
Posted by: Patrick at July 3, 2014 6:33 PM
Since it is transferred from mouth to sex organ, and from sex organ to sex organ, regardless of sex, guess how else you can get it?
Isab at July 4, 2014 5:48 AM
Five years ago I worked on several phase 1 and phase 2 clinical studies of a vaccine that will both prevent HPV infection and reduce or eliminate HPV caused tumors. We were testing for side effects and immune system responses in healthy subjects. The vaccine was injected subcutaneously, using a thin 5/8-inch needle, on the front of the thigh. We tested regimens of two and three doses over two and three week periods. The only side effects were minor and limited to the area of the injection sites - itching, soreness, redness, swelling.
There are several vaccines being developed using different approaches with the goal of reducing or eliminating HPV caused cancers. These cancers will be easily curable within our lifetimes (and I'm not young) Gardasil and Cervarix will be obsolete - much to the displeasure of Merck and GlaxoSmithKline.
Ken R at July 6, 2014 12:27 AM
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