A new international study finds that half of adult males in the
United States and elsewhere may be infected with human
papillomavirus (HPV), a sexually transmissible virus linked to
cervical cancer and other tumors. The finding could help public
health experts determine the value of widespread HPV vaccination
of males, the study authors say. The study, which was funded by
the U.S. National Cancer Institute and published in the March 1
online edition of The Lancet, also found that having multiple
female or male sex partners greatly increased a man's risk of
HPV infection and that, each year, about 6 percent of men are
newly infected with HPV16, the virus that causes cervical cancer
in women and also causes cancers in men. In 2009, about 32,000
cases of cancers in American women and men were attributable to
HPV infection, according to background information in the study.
These included cancers of the cervix, vagina, vulva, penis, oral
cavity, anal canal, and head and neck. In recent years, HPV
vaccination in te