Expert reveals why HPV-related throat cancer is rising among men

Experts have warned that it can be decades before HPV develops into cancer in the back of the throat, also known as oropharyngeal cancer.

Karis Betts, a cancer epidemiologist from Cancer Research UK, revealed to LADbible that HPV infections can go unnoticed for years before developing into cancer.

“There are studies that look at risk for different people. Straight women who have sex with men have a higher risk than women who have sex exclusively with women. And men who have sex with men have higher risk than straight men.

“The HPV vaccine is also available up to age 40 for men who have sex with men because the risk is slightly higher,” Betts said.

“Men have higher rates of head and neck cancers than women. This kind of historically links to other risk factors as well.

“If you look a few decades ago, there were really high rates of smoking in men, high rates of alcohol, and they’ve consistently been higher than women.

“Men have higher rates of head and neck cancers, particularly in the mouth and throat, and these cancers are also caused by other things that are more prevalent in men.”

Though there is no cure for HPV, there is a vaccination available.

“The big kind of preventable measures against HPV in the population are vaccination and cervical screening,” Betts told LADbible.

“Vaccines kind of work best, and that’s why they work best at that school age, because it’s before people have had any exposure to the virus.

“If people are worried about their cancer risk, the best things that they can do, especially for head and neck cancer, is to not smoke, or stop smoking, and reduce their alcohol intake.

“Things like that will have a much bigger benefit on your cancer risk than kind of worrying about an HPV infection.”

The Cleveland Clinic lists the following as warning signs for throat cancer:

• Persistent sore throat
• Pain or difficulty swallowing
• Trouble opening your mouth or moving your tongue fully
• Unexplained weight loss
• Constant or unexplained ear pain
• A lump in the back of the throat or inside the mouth
• A lump or swelling in the neck
• Coughing up blood
• A white patch on the tongue or inside the mouth that doesn’t disappear