Cancer is not traditionally considered to be a disease that people can “catch.”
But a new report warns that tumors caused by common STDs are on the rise across the United States.
While rates of major lung, breast and kidney cancers have stabilized in recent years, certain types linked to the human papillomavirus (HPV) are trending in the wrong direction.
A new report from the American Association for Cancer Research found that cervical cancer in people ages 30 to 34 increased by 17.5 percent between 2012 and 2019.
Similarly, rates of mouth and throat cancers caused by HPV have been increasing at all ages, according to the AACR report.
Michael Douglas shared his story about HPV and throat cancer in 2013 on the Graham Norton show. He has since gone into remission. Farrah Fawcett has set up a foundation to fund research into HPV-related cancers and help prevent others from developing the disease, which claimed her life in 2006.
The AACR report cited a 2022 study from the International Journal of Gynecological Cancer that found cervical cancer rates in people under age 45 had been increasing since the early 2010s.
The report attributes the increase to the number of people not getting vaccinated. Other theories include more people having casual, unprotected sex.
It is recommended that girls and boys begin the three-vaccine cycle starting at approximately age 11.
But the vaccine has not been mandated nationwide, and the United States has lagged behind other countries in its adoption.
In 2022, only 38 percent of American teens have received at least one dose of the HPV vaccine.
In the UK and Australia, 76 percent of children under 17 and 84 percent of children under 17 had received one or more doses of the vaccine.
“Despite clear evidence that the vaccine reduces the incidence of cervical cancer, vaccine uptake in the United States has been low,” the report said.
‘These data highlight the critical importance of public health measures to boost cervical cancer prevention and early detection in the United States.’
‘Devoting resources to increasing public awareness of cancer prevention… can accelerate the pace of progress in reducing the global burden of cancer.’
The report estimates that about 2 million cancers will be diagnosed in the United States by 2024.
Of these, the American Cancer Society said HPV-related cancers (of the mouth, head, throat, cervix and genitals) cause 1.2 percent of all cancers in men and 2.5 percent of all cancers in women.
This represents about 11,500 new cases of cervical cancer and about 4,000 deaths from the disease.
In women ages 30 to 34, the AACR report said the overall incidence of cervical cancer increased by 2.5 percent per year between 2012 and 2019, a total of 17.5 percent over seven years.
HPV-related oral cancers (both throat and mouth) across all ages have also been increasing, the AACR noted.
He American Cancer Society Since the mid-2000s, all oral and throat cancer cases are estimated to have increased by 1 percent per year, primarily due to HPV.
Some doctors believe that oral sex (of any kind) could be the culprit.
There is some evidence that this rise in HPV-related cancers is linked to riskier sexual behavior by people seeking connection after the pandemic.
HPV is a highly infectious sexually transmitted disease that is thought to be responsible for about 1.2 percent of cancers in men and 2.5 percent of cancers in women in the U.S. each year. It is associated with cancers of the cervix, head, neck, throat, and anus.
Public health officials and pop culture icons have been raising awareness about this trend in recent years.
Michael Douglas shared in 2013 that he believed he developed throat cancer due to HPV he contracted during oral sex.
Farah Fawcett, the star of Charlie’s Angels, succumbed to HPV-related cancer in 2006. Before her death, She founded a program at UC Davis to raise awareness about the disease.
HPV is a virus that can be transmitted through contact with the blood, body fluids or skin of an infected person, mainly through sexual relations.
It is highly contagious and according to the National Infectious Diseases FoundationIt is believed to affect more than 42 million Americans.
There are many different pathogens that have been linked to cancer. Some, like HPV and hepatitis, are viruses. Others, like H. Pylori, the microorganism also thought to cause ulcers, are bacteria. These cancers fluctuate in different parts of the world based on healthcare and medical practices.
There are 200 different types of HPV infections, and 12 of them have been linked to cancer.
The virus can cause cancer by weakening the immune system, causing chronic inflammation and changing the way the body’s cells behave, mutating them into cancerous masses.
Nearly 99.7 percent of all cervical cancers are caused by HPV.
According to the AACR report, about 90 percent of anal cancers, 70 percent of mouth and throat cancers, and many penile and vulvar cancers are caused by this virus.
The FDA approved an HPV vaccine in 2006, and it is available for boys and girls ages 11 and older.
Vaccination is believed to prevent nearly nine out of ten HPV-associated cancers, study finds Sweden Study 2020Similarly, a study conducted in Scotland in 2024 concluded that early vaccination programs that began decades earlier led to zero new cases of cervical cancer this year.