Why HPV is an important cancer-prevention tool for everyone

The benefits of HPV vaccination go far beyond cervical cancer prevention, making it a vital tool for overall health.

While the impact of HPV (human papillomavirus) on cervical cancer risk is well known, the virus significantly raises the risk of several additional types of cancer. Among those are cancers of the throat, which are being diagnosed more frequently over recent years.

“They’re on the rise right now because the age group that they typically affect (45-65) were exposed to HPV in their teenage years and their twenties and they didn't have access to the vaccine,” says Matthew Old, MD, the director of the Department of Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery at The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center – James Cancer Hospital and Solove Research Institute. “The vaccine was typically marketed for the prevention of cervical cancers, but now it’s been expanded to prevent HPV-related throat cancers.”

Click here to learn more about head and neck cancer, including symptoms, risks and treatment options at The Ohio State University.

As the HPV vaccine’s cancer prevention benefits become more well-known, the need to raise vaccination rates among people born male, who are more likely to develop both HPV and HPV-related throat cancer.

“We have documented that years ago there was an increased rate of these infections in men, which is what eventually leads to these cancers later on in life,” Old says. “The virus infection can transform the DNA in the back of the throat, and then it takes about a decade or so for those cells to eventually transform into cancer.”

Widespread vaccination is especially important because of the asymptomatic nature of HPV, which often lacks signs that can help people take early or even precautionary actions to lower their risk of cancer.

“It’s important to get the vaccine because it has very little side effects and it can prevent an HPV infection that can result in a devastating disease,” Old says. “Those cancers and their treatments can have a huge impact on the quality of life of patients.”