Marshall Posner, MD, Medical Director, Head and Neck Oncology Center, Mount Sinai Medical Center, discusses the growing need for preventive measures to prevent the spread of human papillomavirus (HPV) related cancers.

Cancers associated with HPV is unique because the virus is transmitted sexually. Twenty-five percent of teenage girls are infected; this number increases by the time they reach their mid-20s. In addition the virus also affects the men that come into contact with the infected women.

HPV is the cause of cervical cancer in women and is becoming predominately associated with oropharyngeal cancer in men. As the amount of cancers associated with the virus increases it becomes increasingly clear that prevention is needed.

Posner notes that prevention will not impact the rate of cancer until it has been in place for nearly 30 years; the cancer rates will only begin to decline if the vaccine is capable of preventing virus inoculation.