Virus Causing More Throat Cancers

Cancers of the upper throat are increasing, and the main reason is a virus spread by sex, a new study finds. Human papilloma virus (HPV) causes cervical cancer. But it also can cause cancer in upper throat. This is called oropharyngeal cancer. It is also found in the tonsils and the base of the tongue. Rates of this cancer have risen 28% since 1988. And most of these tumors now carry HPV, the new study found. In the past, these cancers were most often linked to tobacco or alcohol abuse. Other types of head and neck cancer have declined in the last 20 years. The new study looked at stored tumor issue from 271 patients with oropharyngeal cancer. About 16% of the samples from the late 1980s carried HPV. By the early 2000s, 73% did. Researchers said the proportion of tumors with the virus tripled. Tumors without the virus were down by half.