Already several years ago surgeons ENT specialists realize that among patients with malignancies (typically with a ’ older than 60 years, smokers and drinkers) There was a small group of young patients and often non-smoking and non-drinkers.
Subsequent research has found and demonstrated the presence of tumors of all ’ within this second group of HPV virus (Human Papilloma Virus).
In recent years, however, was made a propaganda often alarmist and the wrong message that is often perceived by patients is that HPV causes cancer and that being a sexually transmitted viruses means that particular sexual habits cause cancer of the oropharynx.
The media starting with a kernel of truth have distorted reality by making several terrorism.
Let's do some’ of clarity:
-the HPV virus is a ubiquitous virus that is tends to involve a huge portion of the population: about 2/3 people are infected by the virus in their lifetime.
-only in a few cases the virus integrates into the cells of the mucous membranes.
-only a few types (histological types) viruses have the potential to degenerate into a malignant tumor cells.
-HPV is only one of the risk factors of the oropharynx cancer. The others are cigarette smoking and alcohol abuse.
-HPV is transmitted mostly through sex but not exclusively.
-sexual relations are part of the normal life of an adult.
From this information I hope you are beginning to better understand the real situation: HPV is only one of the risk factors, infects an enormous amount of subjects but only in a few (Unfortunately) is included in the cells of the mucous membranes and only in a few (further bad luck) is a type of virus that can trigger a malignant degeneration.
If it is probably true that not having sex reduces the risk of getting HPV related cancers is also true that the majority of patients with this disease have a normal sexuality.
So for HPV-related tumors in patients non-smoking and non-drinkers can speak more to bad luck than to abnormal sexuality.
This speech you can instead do for tumors of the oropharynx (and around the head and neck) HPV-related cancer in patients not smoking and alcohol abuse: These two factors are almost indispensable for developing cancer.
There are two other factors that reduce the severity of HPV-related cancers of the oropharynx: the prognosis and the role of the vaccine.
This cancer tends to have a significantly better prognosis (It's easier to care) compared to the same tumor (for histological, dimension, Stadium) not HPV-related regardless of therapy that you decide to make (is surgery that chemo-radiotherapy). Obviously it's still a malignant tumour and then falls by experienced doctor and treated with all precautions necessary.
For some years has begun a major campaign of HPV vaccination on women with the objective to bring down the incidence of cervical cancer. The vaccine also covers some histological types that have a high risk of causing cancers of the oropharynx and then expect in the coming years a reduction of tumors of the oropharynx thanks to vaccination.
