COMPARED to most head and neck malignancies, the rate of throat cancer in the United States and around the globe has not declined. The statistics are also true, when extrapolated, for other countries, like the Philippines, since most Filipinos are westernized in their lifestyle, habits, and behaviors, etc.
The most logical explanation why cancer of the throat has not diminished has been attributed to the Human Papilloma Virus (HPV), a bug that causes a sexually transmitted disease. HPV is popularly (70 percent) known to cause genital warts and most cancers of the cervix (mouth of the womb). Scientists have discovered and identified HPV transmission through oral sex as an etiology of throat cancer.
The American Cancer Society reports that the greatest risk factors in head and neck cancers are smoking and drinking alcoholic beverages, 90% of them either smokers or tobacco-chewers and about 80% of them also imbibed a lot of alcohol.
The good news is that a trend analysis in head and neck cancers in the United States shows a decline the past twenty years, trailing a decrease in smoking prevalence, which started in the 1970s, by 10 to 15 years.
The bad news is that oropharyngeal cancers (which include the tonsils, base of the tongue and soft palate, and side and back of the throat) have been up in some population in the United States, and probably also among people in other parts of the world who practice oral sex, where HPV takes its toll.
“The findings underscore the importance of research aimed at determining if the newly available HPV vaccine is effective in males,” stated researcher Erich Sturgis, MD, MPH, to WebMD, as reported by Salynn Boyles.
Sample of the vaccine referred to is Gardasil, which is genetically engineered, and Gardasil 9 blocks infection caused by nine of the more than 100 types of Human Papilloma Virus (HPV), strains 6, 11, 16, 18, 31, 33, 45, 52, and 58. These sexually transmitted viruses are responsible for about 70% of cervical cancers. HPV, in one form or the other, afflicts about 20 million Americans. The other strains of the virus cause painful genital warts, and sometimes, cervical cancers too.
How prevalent is cervical cancer?
In the Philippines, there are almost 8,000 new cases of cervical cancer each year, with a death rate of about 4052. Annually, more than 13,000 cervical cancer cases are diagnosed in the USA and around 4,250 of them die. Around the world, there are 660,000 cases each year, and 350,000 died in 2022 alone.
However, more alarming than that is the fact that there are between 10,000 to 25,000 women in the United States walking around (not seen by physician) who have undiagnosed pre-invasive lesions in their cervix. If diagnosed early, these women could be saved. For every four survivors of breasts cancer, there are less than 3 women who survive cervical cancer, which shows how virulent cervical cancer is.
What causes cervical cancer?
Human Papilloma Virus (HPV, also known as genital herpes virus) accounts for most cervical cancers. At least 50% of sexually active men and women around the world are infected with genital HPV, especially those with multiple partners. There are about 20 million American men and women infected with HPV, many linked with abnormal pap tests, genital warts and cervical cancer. Between half a million to a million Americans and around 5 million (4.87 percent) Filipinos have genital warts, transmitted thru sexual contacts.
Is the cure for cervical cancer?
Better than the cure; it’s preventive! A vaccine (Gardasil 9) that prevents cervical cancer, vulvar, and vaginal cancer that was approved by the U.S.-FDA in 2006 was found to be “effective almost 100%, in the short term, at blocking the cancer and lesions likely to turn to cancer” (like the pre-invasive lesions), according to Gardasil manufacturer, Merck & Co. The UK’s version of the vaccine is known as Cervarix.
How early should the vaccine be given?
Students in grammar school, middle school and high school should be vaccinated before they become sexually active, because once they catch HPV infection, there is no cure; herpes is for life. As a joke goes: “Unlike love, herpes is forever.” Prophylaxis Gardasil 9 vaccination comprehensively eliminates 9 HPV strains associated non-invasive and invasive cervical cancer. The vaccine also cuts down infection with HPV 6 and 11, the causes of 90% of genital warts, and 7 other strains.
How about throat cancers?
Of the 45,000 head and neck cancers in the US each year, about 10,000 of them are oro-pharyngeal cancers, and tongue cancers among young adults have also increased. The evident conclusion is that the cause is the HP virus. “Over the last five years, 35% of the throat cancer patients treated at the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center had no history of smoking, and that close to 90% of patients who had never smoked showed evidence of oral infection with HPV,” says Dr. Sturgis on Web MD.
The researchers felt that “vaccinating only females against HPV, which is currently the policy in the United States (starting at 9- to 12-year-old girls and boys, and for women up to age 26 who have not received it), could result in a missed opportunity to prevent throat cancers.”
Studies on the vaccine among males are underway, aimed at an over-all protection of both populations. The use of kitchen cling plastic wrap placed over the woman’s private area has been advocated by some as a practical option to prevent HPV transmission via oro-lingual infection.
Unprotected oral sex is dangerous! Oro-pharyngeal malignancies are a miserable cancer and could be fatal.
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The opinions, beliefs and viewpoints expressed by the author do not necessarily reflect the opinions, beliefs and viewpoints of Asian Journal, its management, editorial board and staff.
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Philip S. Chua, MD, FACS, FPCS, a Cardiac Surgeon Emeritus based in Northwest Indiana and Las Vegas, Nevada, is an international medical lecturer/author, Health Advocate, medical missionary, newspaper columnist, and chairman of the Filipino United Network-USA, a 501(c)3 humanitarian foundation in the United States. He was a recipient of the Indiana Sagamore of the Wabash Award in 1995, presented by then Indiana governor, U.S. senator, and later a presidential candidate, Evan Bayh. Other Sagamore past awardees include President Harry S. Truman, President George HW Bush, Muhammad Ali, Astronaut Gus Grissom, scientists, and educators. (Source: Wikipedia). Websites: FUN8888.com, Today.SPSAtoday.com, and philipSchua.com; Amazon.com (“Where is My America?”); Email: [email protected].
