That human papillomavirus (HPV) is a sexually transmitted virus that infects the sexual organs of both genders and can cause cervical cancer is a well documented scientific fact, but what is not so well known, and is cause for major concern, is that recently there has been a sharp rise in cases where HPV is linked to throat tumors that are cancerous especially in men.

Cancers like that of the throat or the neck are normally caused by long term smoking and drinking (usually after exposure of 20 years or more). But now younger people, mainly men are increasingly testing positive for HPV caused cancers resulting from sexual exposure.

The fact is that almost 72% of throat tumors cases that were studied(till 2004) by the researchers of Journal of Clinical Oncology, were linked to HPV. That is a jump of 56% from data collected 20 years earlier.

The problem is that there is no treatment for the HPV virus itself, just treatments for the diseases that it causes (cervical cancer, genital warts and now increasingly throat cancer). There are vaccines available to help combat the virus and can be effective against oral cancer as well.

So this makes regular STD screening for youngsters even more important, especially those who are sexually active with multiple partners. Refraining from oral and anal sex is another option, which may more difficult because it has become a part of mainstream thinking.

You can read more about it in this MSNBC article

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