Cervical cancer virus fuels oral cancer type, too

washingtonexaminer ^ | 10/03/2011 | LAURAN NEERGAARD

[Rabin]

A sexually transmitted virus is fueling a rise in oral cancer. The HPV virus can cause cancer in the upper throat HPV-positive tumors now account for a majority of these cases. If that trend continues, that type of oral cancer will become the nation's main HPV-related cancer within the decade, surpassing cervical cancer, researchers from Ohio State University and the National Cancer Institute report Monday. Dr. Amy Chen of the American Cancer Society and Emory University, (who wasn't part of the new research), "There is an urgency to try to figure out how to prevent this…No one knows why" Tobacco and alcohol have long been the (claimed to be) main causes of these tumors, which occur in the tonsils, base of the tongue and upper throat. Merck & Co., maker of the HPV vaccine Gardasil, said the company has no plans for an oral cancer study.

[neverdem]

micro ping

Human Papillomavirus and Rising Oropharyngeal Cancer Incidence in the United States.

Patients and methods
HPV status was determined for all 271 oropharyngeal cancers (1984-2004) collected by the three population-based cancer registries in the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) Residual Tissue Repositories Program by using polymerase chain reaction and genotyping (Inno-LiPA), HPV16 viral load, and HPV16 mRNA expression.

Gardasil protects against HPV16 & HPV18, IIRC. I think the numbers may be suspect. Is this more lame peer review?