Study Suggests Michael Douglas May Have Been Right About HPV And Throat Cancer

The link between throat cancer and the HPV (human papillomavirus) virus has been proved, according to a study by leading cancer authorities.

Experts including Cancer Research UK scientists at the University of Oxford compared blood samples from 938 patients with head and neck, oesophageal (gullet) and oropharyngeal cancers with 1,599 people without the disease.

It is the same type of cancer that Michael Douglas suffered from and reportedly spoke about the link between HPV and his own cancer, saying he contracted the virus during oral sex.

Michael Douglas

They found that more than a third of those who had oropharyngeal cancers also carried antibodies to one of HPV's key cancer-causing proteins - a protein from the HPV16 virus called E6 - and these antibodies could be detected in patients' blood even in samples taken more than 10 years before the cancer was diagnosed.

By comparison, less than 1% of people without cancer carried the antibodies in their blood.

HPV's E6 protein disables the p53 protein, which is often called the 'guardian of the genome' because it protects cells from DNA damage and cancer development.

Having antibodies against this HPV protein indicates that HPV's cancer-causing processes have been activated before.

Scientists in the Oxford study estimated that around seven in 100 non-smoking women and around 23 in 100 non-smoking men who carry the E6 antibody in their blood will develop oropharyngeal cancer over 10 years.

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Misconceptions About HPV

An Abnormal Pap Test Means You Have High-Risk HPV(01 of06)

Pap tests are the commonly accepted screening to prevent cervical cancer. A doctor scrapes a cell culture from a woman's cervix and then examines the cells for signs of abnormality. But just because a few of those cells appear abnormal, requiring further screening, doesn't necessarily mean that you've got a cancer-causing strain of HPV -- that's only one potential cause. "The difference could be due to local irritation, a non-HPV infection, a low-risk HPV type, or even a mistake in the preparation of the cell sample," writes the American Sexual Health Association.

Condom Use Prevents HPV(02 of06)

HPV is passed via skin contact, rather than bodily fluid. For that reason, condoms can lower the risk of the disease, but they are not a sufficiently preventive measure, as they are for viruses like HIV and bacteria like gonorrhea.

Oral Sex Is Safe From Cancer Risk(03 of06)

While the HPV-cancer connection most often relates to cervical health, a 2011 Journal of Clinical Oncology study found what doctors have long observed: There has been a surge in HPV-associated oral cancers. In fact, between 1988 and 2004, HPV-associated oropharyngeal cancers rose 225 percent.Oral sex is the primary culprit, making cancer screening of the mouth and esophagus another important test while visiting the doctor.

HPV Vaccine Means I Don't Have To Worry About Cervical Cancer(04 of06)

The HPV vaccine protects against four strains of the virus that are most often associated with cancer and genital warts, but that doesn't mean it prevents cancer entirely. One concern within the medical community is that the vaccination will provide a false sense of security and prevent innoculated men and women from receiving regular cancer screening. "Clearer information is needed concerning the incomplete protection offered by the vaccine, and that cervical screening will still be required," wrote a group of British public health researchers in the Journal of Medical Screening.

Genital Warts Can Be Pre-Cancerous(05 of06)

Some strains of HPV ("low risk" types 6, 11, 42, 43 and 44) cause benign growths known as genital warts and other strains (types 16, 18, 31 and 45) cause cancer of the cervix, vulva, vagina, penis, anus, or an area called the oropharynx, which includes the back of the throat, the base of the tongue and the tonsils. But that doesn't mean that one leads to the other -- genital warts, which affect about one percent of the sexually active U.S. adult population -- do not lead to cancer.

The HPV Vaccine Is For Girls(06 of06)

The first HPV-preventive vaccine on the market, Gardasil, was approved by the FDA for use in girls in 2006 and in boys three years later. What's more, there are two FDA-approved vaccines for girls and women: Gardasil and Cervarix; while only Gardasil is available to boys and men.Still, HPV vaccination is the responsibility of all. Both the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the American Academy of Pediatrics both recommend the vaccine for boys for two primary reasons. First, inoculated boys will not be vectors for the disease, which can contribute to herd immunity and prevent dangerous infection in women. But more, the incidence of HPV-associated cancers that affect men is also growing, including anal and penile cancer and cancers of the mouth and throat.

But patients with oropharyngeal cancers linked to having the HPV infection were more likely to survive than people whose cancers were not related to the infection. Some 84% of people with the HPV16 antibodies in their blood were still alive five years after diagnosis, compared to 58% of people without them.

HPV is already known to increase the risk of developing cervical, vulval, anal and penile cancers. Girls aged 12-13 in the UK are offered vaccination against the two most common cancer-causing HPV types, HPV16 and HPV18. But it is not yet known whether HPV vaccination could protect against oral HPV infections, or oral cancers.

Dr Ruth Travis, one of the authors of the study and Cancer Research UK scientist at the University of Oxford, said: "These striking results provide some evidence that HPV16 infection may be a significant cause of oropharyngeal cancer."

Around 1,500 people are diagnosed with oropharyngeal cancers each year in the UK, and around 470 people die from this disease.

The HPV virus can spread through oral or genital contact. And people who have had a number of oral sex partners have a higher risk of being infected by the virus, but it is not known if this is the only way the virus can spread.

Sara Hiom, Cancer Research UK director of health information, said: "HPV is an extremely common virus. About eight out of 10 people will be infected with the virus at some point in their lives.

"Practising safer sex may reduce the risk of getting or passing on HPV, but condoms won't stop infections completely.

"If the HPV vaccine can also protect against oral HPV infections and cancers, then it could have a broader potential protective effect, but we don't have enough research yet to tell us. At the moment we know it protects against pre-cancerous changes in the cervix, vulva, vagina and anus, as well as reducing the risk of genital warts. So it's important to reduce inequalities, and to aim for high uptake of the vaccine.

"And more research is needed to understand more about HPV infections in the mouth - how they are spread, how easy it is for the body to get rid of them, and what happens when cancer develops - so that we can learn how to reduce the burden of HPV infection in future."

The study is published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.

HPV vaccine HPV cancer Michael Douglas Cancer uk lifestyle news

HPV Virus Is Linked To A Third Of Throat Cancers In The UK - Was Michael Douglas Right?

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