Men who have oral sex with multiple partners are at a much higher risk of developing HPV infection and cancer of the oropharynx, according to the results of a study published in the medical journal Annals of Oncology. This risk is multiplied for smokers.
Researchers at the University of Buffalo in the United States examined 13,089 people between the ages of 20 and 69, who were tested for HPV infection orally. There are over 100 different types of HPV strains, but only a few are known to cause cancer. Thus, infection with HPV16 causes most cancers of the oropharynx, the incidence of which is expected to exceed Cervical cancer in the United States by 2020.
Smokers with more than 5 partners more at risk
The results of the study revealed that men who had five or more partners had a 7% risk of being affected by a carcinogenic infection. If they smoked, this probability even increased to 15%. But, researchers have estimated that only 1 in 10 men will develop oropharyngeal cancer in their lifetime. The researchers found that the women were at little risk.
“In men who did not smoke, oral infections with an oncogenic strain of HPV were rare,” says Dr. Amber D’Souza, the study’s first author. “In non-smoking men, this type of infection was also rare, as long as they had fewer than five partners. But beyond that, the risk of infection increased with the number of partners and the smoking. “
Scientists hope they can use these findings to develop screening techniques.
“Currently, there are no tests that could be used to screen people with oropharyngeal cancer. It is a rare cancer and for most healthy people, the downsides of screening. would outweigh the benefits because of the problem of false positives and the resulting anxiety, ”said Carole Fakhry, associate professor in the Johns Hopkins Department of Otolaryngology.
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