Public awareness of the dangers of HPV and the benefits of the vaccine are low, according to two recent students

Study Finds Many Americans Don't Know That HPV Can Cause This Type of Cancer Experts explain the findings and stress the importance of increasing awareness

• Two recent studies showed that many Americans are unaware of the risks of HPV and the benefits of HPV vaccination.
• Throat cancer is now the most common type of HPV-related cancer, which also includes cervical, vaginal, vulvar, anal, and penile cancer.
• To reduce the rates of these cancers, experts say patients need to talk to their healthcare providers about HPV vaccination and the dangers of HPV.

A majority of Americans are unaware that human papillomavirus, or HPV, can increase the risk of throat cancer, according to a recent survey. 

While public health campaigns have successfully spread the word about HPV’s ability to cause cervical cancer, there’s less of a focus on the other malignancies the virus can cause, study author Daniel Kwon, MD, a head and neck surgeon with Keck Medicine of University of Southern California, told Health.

In addition to cervical and throat cancer, now the most common type of cancer attributed to HPV, the sexually transmitted infection can also lead to vaginal, vulvar, anal, and penile cancer.

The lack of awareness about HPV-related cancers might be why most eligible U.S. adults forego HPV vaccinations, the finding of another recent study out of USC. In 2018, adults aged 27 to 45 became eligible for the shot, previously only available to people ages 9 and 26. 

Experts said that the two studies, published in the journal Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery, show that the public has little knowledge about an exceedingly common disease. 

HPV, spread through intimate skin-to-skin contact and vaginal, anal, or oral sex, affects 13 million Americans annually. More than 42 million Americans have types of the virus that cause cancer. Because high-risk HPV is usually asymptomatic, most people who have it don’t realize it.

“A lot of HPV-related diseases carry a little bit of shame, and they shouldn’t,” Geoffrey Young, MD, a head and neck surgical oncologist at Baptist Health’s Miami Cancer Institute, told Health. “There’s not been this loud voice behind [widespread vaccination efforts] because there’s still this unfortunate shame associated with the discussion of that virus.”

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Many People Unaware That HPV Causes Throat Cancer

Researchers wanted to assess Americans’ knowledge about HPV following the vaccine expansion in 2018. To do this, they relied on the Health Information National Trends Survey (HINTS), which collects data on the awareness of cancer-related health information over time.

The researchers analyzed data from 3,504 HINTS participants in 2018 and 3,865 participants in 2020. At each point, the participants answered questions about their awareness of the link between HPV and certain cancers and the existence of an HPV vaccine.

Though a vast majority of people knew about the HPV vaccination, that wasn’t the case for awareness about the association between HPV and a throat cancer called oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma. In 2018, 27% of participants reported awareness of this relationship, but that number was only 29.5% two years later.

The number of people who knew HPV could cause cervical cancer also dropped. In 2018, 75% of people reported awareness of this relationship; in 2020, that number fell to 70.2%.

The team concluded that despite the vaccine eligibility expansion, the public was still largely unaware of the risks of HPV and the benefits of the HPV vaccine.

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Low Vaccination Rates

The other paper, published in August, relied on data from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, which collects health data on Americans in all 50 states through phone surveys.

Researchers analyzed data from a cohort of 26,470 adults aged 30 to 44 who participated in the BRFSS program between 2018 and 2022.

The CDC doesn’t formally recommend vaccination for people ages 27 to 45 but advises that the population make individual decisions about whether or not to get vaccinated in conjunction with their healthcare providers.

The scientists found that 15.8% of participants reported any status of HPV vaccination, while only 6.5% reported they were fully vaccinated. (Three doses are recommended for U.S. adults.)

The following factors were associated with a higher likelihood of vaccination:

• Younger age
• Female sex
• Living in the West or the Northeast regions of the U.S.
• Higher educational attainment
• Being unmarried 
• Having a personal healthcare provider
• Gay or lesbian sexual orientation

What’s Behind the Statistics?

There are several reasons U.S. adults don’t have a good understanding of the dangers of HPV, experts said.

HPV awareness had more momentum in the late 2010s, Young said, but the pandemic halted some of that. After COVID emerged, “the vaccine focus switched to COVID, and we reached a stagnation” with HPV vaccination rates, he explained. “The vaccine conversation took a different turn and got politicized.”

Vaccine hesitancy also plays a role, as does confusion about HPV in general. Initially, the vaccine was only recommended for girls, which made people unaware that boys and men are also eligible, experts said.

It also doesn’t help, Kwon added, that the type of cancers caused by HPV don’t receive as much attention as more buzzy types like breast cancer.

“Head and neck cancer is a little bit of an ugly stepchild of cancers,” he said. “Lots of cancers get press and funding, but we don’t really see it for head and neck cancer because, traditionally, these are the cancers of the poor and the disenfranchised.”

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Getting Vaccinated

The more lifetime and recent sex partners you have, the higher your risk of contracting HPV. If you or your child is eligible for the vaccine, experts recommend consulting a healthcare provider to discuss inoculation.

While women can turn to HPV tests and pap smears to determine if they have HPV, no test can detect the virus in men—making vaccination even more crucial.

Education is necessary, Kwon said, “and this is where advocacy by public health [workers] and clinicians is important.”

Edited by Health with a background in health, science, and investigative reporting. Previously, she wrote full time about parenting issues for the app Parent Lab. Before that, she worked as a reporter for National Geographic covering wildlife crime and exploitation." tabindex="0" data-inline-tooltip="true"> Jani Hall Jani Hall Jani Hall is a news editor for Health with a background in health, science, and investigative reporting. Previously, she wrote full time about parenting issues for the app Parent Lab. Before that, she worked as a reporter for National Geographic covering wildlife crime and exploitation. learn more

This story originally appeared on: Health News - Author:Maggie O'Neill