HPV, the same STD that causes genital warts and cervical cancer in women, is now the top cause of oral cancer in men, responsible for more cases than either smoking or drinking. An increase in HPV-16 in the U.S. is changing the face of oral cancer to mostly white, male nonsmokers in their late thirities and early forties. Men with more than five or six sexual partners are now at a higher risk. “We’re only now beginning to see the beginning of a bell curve,” said Dr. Eric Genden, chair of head and neck surgery at Mount Sinai Medical center. [NYDN]
