If you’re aware of human papillomavirus (HPV), a common sexually transmitted infection that nearly 13 million Americans contract each year, then you likely associate it with risk for cervical cancer (see our Basics). But did you know the virus accounts for 70% of mouth and throat cancers, making it the most common type of HPV-related cancer? According to federal health data, each year about 35,000 people are diagnosed with a cancer caused by HPV. Cancer researchers at the University of Southern California’s Keck Medicine and Department of Otolaryngology found that most Americans are unaware of these facts.

 

“Knowledge is the first step toward disease prevention,” notes USC head and neck surgeon Daniel Kwon, MD, who led the research. “The public is missing crucial information about the link between throat cancer and HPV as well as the fact that vaccines may prevent HPV-related throat cancer.”