HPV-Related Throat & Oral Cancers

Human papillomavirus (HPV) is a group of related viruses that can infect the skin and lining of the mouth, throat, and genitals.

HPV is spread through direct skin-to-skin contact during vaginal, anal and oral sex. Infection is common. More than half of sexually active people are infected with an HPV virus at some time in their lives.

Sexually transmitted HPV can be categorized as low-risk (for example, the types that cause warts) or high-risk. Most HPV infections do not lead to any symptoms and go away within a few years. Some infections, however, can persist. Persistent infections with high-risk types of HPV may eventually lead to cancer, a process that can take 10 to 20 years from the time of initial infection.

Patients with HPV-related cancers are often younger and healthier than those with head and neck cancers not caused by HPV. Some factors may increase the risk of developing cancer after a high-risk HPV infection, including smoking, a weakened immune system, or poor oral hygiene.

HPV-related cancers are a type of squamous cell carcinoma. The most common type of HPV-caused cancer is cervical cancer. HPV can also cause anal cancer, vaginal, vulvar, and penile cancer. More recently, HPV infections have been linked to increasing numbers of oropharyngeal cancer, which affects the part of the throat that includes the tonsils and the base of the tongue.