HThroat cancer may not receive as much attention as some other medical conditions, including other cancers, but experts are urging older men to educate themselves about this growing health risk.
Rates of throat cancer, which had declined for many years, are now on the rise, especially among men 50 and older. And a major reason for this shift has to do with a common and highly contagious virus.
For a long time, cases of oral and throat cancer (also known as oropharyngeal cancer) were linked primarily to lifestyle habits like tobacco and alcohol use—behaviors that have become less common over time, explains Dr. Maie A. St. John, director of the deparment of otolaryngology–head and neck surgery for the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine.
But over the past three decades, the incidence rates for oral cavity and oropharyngeal cancer have been rising, she says, and this increase has mainly been attributed to the rise in cancers caused by human papillomavirus (HPV) infections. In fact, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says HPV is now identified as a probable cause for up to 70 percent of all oropharyngeal cancers in the United States.
“The incidence of throat cancer caused by HPV has surpassed cervical cancer as the most common cancer associated with the human papillomavirus,” St. John says. “So we actually do consider it an epidemic.”
The role of HPV — and a problematic stigma
HPV is an extremely common virus that can cause certain types of cancer, including cancer of the cervix, vagina or throat. The virus is spread through sexual activity, including oral sex, and other direct skin-to-skin contact, according to the CDC.
Bobbi Dempsey is a freelance writer who has written about a variety of topics, including health and entertainment, for aarp.org and AARP The Magazine. Her work has also appeared in Parade, The New York Times, Harper’s Magazine and other outlets.