It’s unfortunate that sexually transmitted diseases occur, and even if you think you’re safe with all the protection you’ve attempted, you could still be at risk. During a recent study conducted by the Icahn School of Medicine in New York City, the Mount Sinai facility has found that oral and throat cancers are on the rise as much as 2.5% per year.
During this study, more than 149,000 cases were analyzed – more specifically, these cases all had one thing in common: cancer in the neck and head. The cases spanned over 10 years and were found in the Surveillance Epidemiology and End Results database – all of which showed that these cancers were related to the unfortunate sexually transmitted disease HPV. An extremely common STD, all of the cases shown, were related to the cancers in all states besides Hawaii, Michigan, and Georgia.
Those that researched these cases suggested that the increase of this cancer related to the human papillomavirus can easily be attributed to the increase of sexual behaviour amongst those of younger ages, and the rapidly growth in premarital sex. Furthermore, the issues that the United States has seen with birth control has also played a part in other sexual acts on the rise; all of which correlate to the rapid transmission of HPV and these related cancers.
When the cases studied the men, it was found that there was an increase of oropharyngeal cancer – an increase of 2.89% alone each year. Unfortunately, researchers have found that this trend may continue to increase, while that specific cancer in men widely outnumbers the cancers found in women from the same issues. In fact, this ratio is as wide as four to 1. So, if both men and women are participating in sexual acts in general – with or without each other, why are there so many more men?
In short, the sexual practices amongst men and their vaccination discrepancies show men at a much more vulnerable state in the world of sexual history, compared to women. Those that have an HPV-related cancer are younger than ever, with a 3-5-year age gap from previous studies. Surprisingly, those that have the HPV related cancers may be younger, but it’s found that many of them have a much higher education level, and of course, way more sexual partners than previously studied. Most have been found to be white with the extensive usage of alcohol and tobacco.
While the rate of these neck and head cancers have decreased annually up to 0.22%, and the rate of laryngeal cancer has also decreased by almost 2%, it’s mainly because of the younger populations decreasing tobacco smoking and going towards other alternatives. Furthermore, it could be related to the tobacco-related marketing and legislation.
Originally published in the Journal of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, the study concluded that the cause of these neck and head cancers are much more contained than once thought, but the rate at which they are growing have decreased in the younger population.