Oral cancer-causing HPV may spread through oral, genital routes

The following content is wholly owned by Science Daily who reserve all rights to the content, any Science Daily logos, trademarks or trade names that may be contained in this article

Read the original on the Science Daily website

Oral human papillomavirus (HPV) infections were more common among men who had female partners with oral and/or genital HPV infection, suggesting that the transmission of HPV occurs via oral-oral and oral-genital routes, according to a McGill University study published in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research.

“HPV is the most common sexually transmitted disease in the world, and is a risk factor for several cancers, including cervical, vaginal, vulvar, oropharyngeal [throat/tonsil], anal, and penile cancer,” says Eduardo L. Franco, Professor and Director of the Division of Cancer Epidemiology at McGill University.

“Understanding how HPV is transmitted is important because it will help us identify who is most at risk for HPV infection and how we can help them protect themselves and their partners,” adds Franco, who is also the Chairman of the Department of Oncology in the Faculty of Medicine. “Our work provides additional evidence that HPV is sexually transmitted to the oral tract through oral-oral and oral-genital contact.”

. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length.

Comments are closed.