Sexually Transmitted Cancer?

Head Shot Mandala (Photo credit: kightp)

Oh yeah, it’s for real and it’s been around for a while.

As a “Friend” or a “Fan” of a number of Facebook pages devoted to Oral Cancer and Head and Neck Cancer awareness, I have been able to read quite a few studies, reports, and articles about these types of cancers.

What have I learned?

A whole lot, and not enough.

Recently I came across this article:

Emergence of HPV 16 and sexually transmiitted oral cancer

and it alluded to what I already know, that HPV related Oral Cancers are on the rise.  When Ry was alive, his family and I did a tremendous amount of research about this cancer.  Much of what we found was not particularly helpful because it was confusing and did not seem to relate to what was happening to Ry.  According to many of the reports we encountered, HPV related Oral Cancers and Head and Neck Cancers were “more responsive to treatment” those cancers that were potentially a result of smoking and drinking.

Yet Ry’s cancer seemed to be much more aggressive and much more resistant to treatment than expected.  So from my perspective these “studies” were full of shit.  The longer I lived with the reality of this cancer, the more convinced I became that nobody really understood how these HPV related Oral Cancers worked, especially in young people.  This little article simply validated this, in a way that did not make the writer seem like a total idiot.

Read it, and if you are not scared, or at least concerned, you need to be.  HPV is terrifyingly easy to transmit (skin to skin people, SKIN to SKIN!!!) and it is not just about gross warts and strictly women’s health (ahem, cervical cancer, which brings up a whole other can ‘o worms I am not going to talk about right now).

HPV is a virus that can cause cancer in both men and women, it is super easy to catch, and you probably have no idea that you have it because by the time you experience any symptoms you are totally screwed.

Here is a little excerpt from this article:

There are two alarming concerns with HPV 16: The age of the victims that contract the virus and the method in which it is often transmitted. Oral cancer contracted via the ingestion of alcohol and tobacco is most often associated with individuals who are well into life, often over the age of forty. These people have often been smoking or drinking for the better part of their adult lives, and the cancer has built up over many years.

HPV 16 varies from this immensely as it most often found in people in their 20s with no traces of alcohol or tobacco consumption, although there is an additive link between consumption of these and HPV 16. The ease of which HPV 16 is unknowingly transmitted lies in the fact that it is mainly transmitted by sexual contact. Remember that the virus resides on the skin, and this includes the skin of the anus, vagina and penis.

Often oral contact of these areas allows the HPV to transfer directly to the oral cavity. It is usually the case that the carrier of HPV 16 is not even aware and spreads the virus unknowingly to their partner.

This is a seriously informative article.  Educate yourself and please read it in its entirety:

http://oralcancernews.org/wp/emergence-of-hpv-16-and-sexually-transmiitted-oral-cancer/

Related articles

• Lack of Evidence on Oral Cancer Screening (nlm.nih.gov)
• Don’t Ignore This Important Cancer Screening (dangerouslee.biz)
• April Is Oral Cancer Awareness Month (tandrewsphillipsdds.wordpress.com)
• April is Oral Cancer Awareness Month (drshanefrancis.wordpress.com)
• In Recognition Of Oral Cancer Awareness Month, DenMat Offers Consumers Early Detection Advice (via @sacbee_news) (smileagainnow.wordpress.com)
• Roger Ebert Seized Much Life from Cancer (forbes.com)
• Emerging cancer ‘epidemic’ linked to virus (irishtimes.com)