HPV positive head and neck cancer is increasing in Men

TRI based researchers Dr Chamindie Panyadeera (QUT) and Professor Ian Frazer (UQ) have recently been featured in an SBS Feed news article and TV segment discussing HPV-Positive head and neck cancer and its increase in men.   

Dr Panyadeera’s saliva test to detect if a patient is HPV positive or negative aims to pick up the disease much earlier. Dr Panyadeera said “What we want to do is early intervention [and] early detection, because if you detect early, 80% of patients survive”.   

After the success of the Gardasil vaccine for cervical cancer Professor Ian Frazer says “the big challenge now is to get something for oropharyngeal cancer. All the vaccines that we currently use are vaccines to prevent infection. A vaccine to cure infection is a different beast altogether”.

Source: SBS The Feed 'Oral sex and Deep Kissing linked to increase in HPV-Positive head and neck cancer', by Amelia Dunn 

While most cases of HPV clear up on their own, a small but increasing number of young people are being diagnosed with HPV-associated oropharyngeal cancer. 'Jake Simpson was 22 when he started to get painful toothaches. Trips back and forth to the dentist couldn’t seem to fix the growing lump at the back of his mouth."
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