Vaccination urged over oral cancer
Consideration should be given to routinely vaccinating boys against a sexually-transmitted virus linked to mouth cancer, an expert says.
Evidence suggests certain strains of the Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) are behind big increases in rates of oral cancer, which has seen a 200 per cent rise in the US with similar trends in the UK. Part of the reason is thought to be a more casual attitude to oral sex.
US specialist Professor Maura Gillison says health officials should consider protecting pre-adolescent boys against oral cancer, in the same way the link between HPV and cervical cancer led to the routine vaccination of 12- to 13-year-old girls in the UK since 2008.
Prof Gillison, from Ohio State University in Columbus, said: “The time has come to have a more thorough discussion about the benefits of HPV vaccination for boys.”