WebMD Medical News Laura J. Martin, MD Feb. 28, 2011 -- About
half of adult men have genital human papillomavirus (HPV), a
sexually transmitted infection that has been linked to certain
cancers, according to a study funded by the National Cancer
Institute (NCI). Genital HPV is the most common type of sexually
transmitted infection. Many people infected with HPV do not know
they have it. There are many different strains of HPV. More than
40 of them affect the genitals. Some types of genital HPV cause
genital warts, while others can lead to cancer. Persistent
infection with a high-risk strain of HPV is the leading cause of
nearly all cervical cancers in women. Genital HPV may also lead
to less common, but serious, cancers of the penis, anus, vulva,
and vagina and some cancers of the oral cavity and head and
neck. You are more likely to catch HPV if you have multiple
sexual partners. The NCI-funded study involved more than 1,000
adult men aged 18 to 70 years old that lived in the United
States, Brazil, and Mexic