You probably know human papillomavirus, or HPV, as a women's health issue brought up during a Pap smear or a visit to the gynecologist. Most of us have never thought about where else it goes. For many men, the virus ends up somewhere few people check.
Oropharyngeal cancer, the kind that forms at the base of the tongue and in the tonsils, has quietly overtaken cervical cancer as the most common HPV-related cancer in the United States.
The CDC counts about 22,800 oropharyngeal cancer cases a year, versus roughly 12,300 cervical cancers. Head and neck specialists see the disease show up in men around four times as often as in women.
Something that makes it worse is that no routine screening test exists. A Pap smear can catch cervical changes early. Nothing like that exists for the throat, and most tumors are only noticed once they start to cause symptoms.
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The virus can hide for decades before a tumor appears
HPV usually clears on its own within one or two years. When it does not, the virus can sit silently in cells for a very long time.
Head and neck specialists at MD Anderson note that the virus can lie dormant for years before causing cancer. The typical patient is a non-smoking man in his 50s, 60s or 70s. By the time symptoms appear, the tumor has often already spread to a lymph node in the neck.
Seven warning signs men should pay attention to
Because there is no screen, the first clue is usually a symptom. According to the THANC Foundation, a nonprofit focused on head and neck cancers, these signs are most strongly tied to HPV-positive throat cancer.
- a lump on the neck or in the cheek
- a sore throat that will not go away
- hoarseness that lasts
- trouble swallowing that is new
- a white or red patch on the tonsils
- jaw pain or swelling
- coughing up blood
Pain is not always part of the picture. Many men notice a painless neck lump first. Ear pain on one side can also appear, because the nerves in the throat share paths with the ear.
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Any of these symptoms that persist for more than two or three weeks is worth a visit to a doctor.
The vaccine lowers the risk even into mid-adulthood
A large US cohort study was presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology annual meeting in 2024 and published as an abstract in the Journal of Clinical Oncology. It looked at health records from nearly 3.5 million Americans ages 9 to 39.
Men who had been vaccinated against HPV were 54 percent less likely to develop an HPV-related cancer than unvaccinated men, and the biggest drop was in head and neck cancers.
The CDC recommends routine HPV vaccination at ages 11 to 12, starting as early as 9, and catch-up through age 26. Adults 27 through 45 who are not already vaccinated can still get it after talking with their doctor, the CDC says.
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This article is made and published by Aksel Kryhlmand, who may have used AI in the preparation.