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Is the Rise in Male Oral Cancer Related to HPV?

  • May 08, 2008
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WARNING!

This is an older article that may not reflect Dr. Mercola’s current view on this topic. Use our search engine to find Dr. Mercola’s latest position on any health topic.

boyHuman papillomavirus (HPV), the sexually transmitted virus that can cause cervical cancer in women, has been linked to an increase in throat, tonsil and tongue cancer in younger men.

While these diseases were once associated with older men who have smoked and drank heavily for most of their life, head and neck cancer brought on by HPV are now occurring among men in their 40s and 30s.

Researchers believe that the increase in certain oral cancers may be traced to the spread of the HPV virus through oral sex.

New studies suggest that HPV-related oral cancer cases may eventually surpass cases of cervical cancer in the United States, which strike about 11,000 women each year.

The researchers said they hope an HPV vaccine that is designed to protect girls from cervical cancer will be approved for boys and tested for head and neck cancers.
 
Dr. Mercola's Comments:
Well, now that they have apparently linked a rise in head and neck cancers in men to HPV, the vaccine makers are surely seeing more dollar signs flickering before their eyes.

After all, Merck’s Gardasil vaccine -- the one that supposedly prevents cervical cancer caused by HPV -- has only one major downfall in their eyes: it’s only marketed to girls.

So if they can get this vaccine approved for boys too, they will have instantly doubled Gardasil’s target market, with a corresponding doubling of their profits as well.

This is Pharmaceutical Spin at its Finest

The topic of cancer can be a highly emotionally charged one, and drug companies are EXPERTS in understanding how to manipulate these negative emotions to their advantage.

They employ some of the most effective marketers on the planet and know full well how to cash in on your fears.

And this is exactly what they are doing with studies such as this one, which links HPV to cancer in men. Well, not surprisingly, the Johns Hopkins oncologist who is credited with making this link, Dr. Maura Gillison, is also “principal investigator of phase I and II clinical trials designed to evaluate the safety and therapeutic potential of a naked DNA vaccine encoding the HPV-16 E7 oncoprotein.”

HPV-Associated Cancers are Rare

Estimates put cases of HPV-associated head and neck cancers at 6,000 per year, and cervical cancer cases at fewer than 11,000.

For comparison’s sake, there will be an estimated 215,000 cases of lung cancer in 2008, and over 182,000 cases of breast cancer.

Yet, what you hear in the media is how common HPV is; it’s an infection that more than half of Americans will encounter during their lifetimes, they like to say. What they don’t tell you, however, is also what’s most important to know:
  • About 90 percent of all HPV infections go away on their own within two years.
  • A JAMA study found that just 2 percent of the patients in the study were infected by the kinds of HPV that put them at high-risk for developing cervical cancer.
  • A little more than 3 percent were infected with the types of HPV that Gardasil was concocted to prevent.
So, 98 percent of the time, HPV is not even a high risk of causing cervical cancer. And 97 percent of the time, the HPV virus that women get is one that Merck’s vaccine Gardasil does NOT prevent.

Let’s Get Real About How to Prevent HPV

It does not require a vaccination to prevent HPV. Far from it. The most important risk factors of HPV are marital status, age, and your number of sexual partners.

This is a sexually transmitted disease, so it is behaviorally avoidable. Also, a New England Journal of Medicine study found the use of condoms reduces the incidence of HPV by 70 percent.

And let’s not forget the primary cause of most all cancers: unresolved emotional traumas, often combined with a breakdown in your system due to an unhealthy lifestyle and exposure to toxins in your environment.

So if you want to know how to nip cancer in the bud -- before it ever begins -- pay close attention to these 12 lifestyle changes that can VIRTUALLY ELIMINATE your risk of cancer and chronic disease. These are the things that will truly keep you healthy -- in ways that a vaccine could never come close to.

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