Brits unaware of a leading cause of mouth cancer
81% of Brits are unaware that human papillomavirus (HPV) is a leading cause of mouth cancer, a new study has revealed.
The Oral Health Foundation is calling on dental and health associations and bodies, the government and policy-makers, as well as other charities, to help increase public awareness of the potential impact of HPV in a bid to reduce the amount of lives lost to mouth cancer each year.
HPV is one of the leading causes of mouth cancer and is predicted to overtake traditional causes of the disease, such as smoking and drinking to excess, within the next decade. This means that although traditionally seen in males over the age of 40, we are likely to see a huge rise in mouth cancer in younger people and women.
HPV is transmitted through oral sex and the chances of contracting the disease does not greatly change depending on whether a person might have a regular, long-term partner, or has casual multiple partners.
There are many different forms of HPV; most people will not have any problems related to it, but a small proportion of people will go on to develop problems, such as cancer.
The Oral Health Foundation believes that the introduction of a gender-neutral vaccination in the UK will significantly reduce the number of mouth cases caused by HPV in the future.
Dr Nigel Carter OBE noted that whilst “girls aged 12 and 13 started to receive the HPV vaccination to help prevent cervical cancer in 2008 through a school-based programme”, boys are not given “the same level of protection, something that is dangerously unfair and leads to many lives lost each year due to problems related to HPV.”
He continued to say that “By introducing a gender-neutral vaccination in the UK we will potentially see a similar impact on mouth cancer to that which we saw in regards to cervical cancer.”
“Unfortunately for people aged 25 and over it is already too late as the HPV vaccine is most effective before somebody is sexually active,” Dr Carter said, going on to highlight the importance of knowing major signs and symptoms of mouth cancer such as mouth ulcers which do not heal within three weeks, red or white patches in the mouth, and any lumps or bumps in the head or neck area.
