HPV Vaccination Cuts Cervical Cancer, But Throat and Mouth Cancers Rise in Men

Vaccination against human papillomavirus (HPV) has sharply reduced cervical cancer rates among women who received the vaccine, and doctors are celebrating that success. At the same time, they are raising an alarm about a different, ongoing trend: cancers of the throat and mouth linked to HPV are increasing, and the increase is falling mostly on men, according to data on the pattern.

These throat and mouth cancers are broadly grouped together under the medical term oropharyngeal cancer. They form at the back of the throat, in the region that includes the tonsils and the base of the tongue. Unlike cervical cancer, which occurs only in women, oropharyngeal cancer can affect anyone, and the HPV-related cases now rising are concentrated mostly among middle-aged and older men, the data shows.

Researchers have put numbers on how large this shift has been. A 2023 study that examined cancer trends in the United States found that cases of HPV-related oropharyngeal cancer more than tripled between 1988 and 2004. The bulk of that increase was driven by male patients, the study found.

This is not a US-only phenomenon. The upward trend continues worldwide today. A separate study conducted in Denmark found that HPV-related oropharyngeal cancer cases in that country tripled again, between 2000 and 2017.