Thanks to recent pharmaceutical sponsored awareness campaigns, more people now than ever know that Human Papillomavirus HPV infection is the primary cause of cervical cancer in women. Even less well known is that these cancers disproportionately affect LGBT people.
Genital HPV is transmitted by skin to skin contact. Transmission occurs more easily in the presence of irritated skin, as often occurs with penetrative sex Stein, The most widely used test for HPV is the Pap smear, where a sample of cells is collected from the affected tissue and tested for an abnormal rate or pattern of growth, called dysplasia. Dysplasia may range from mild to severe, but because HPV infection is usually contained by the immune system, most healthy adults will never develop it.
For persons with poor immune system function, however, infection HPV infection may quickly progress to severe dysplasia and cancer. Men who have sex with men are also at increased risk for anal cancer compared to the general population Brewer, Although it remains difficult to prove that HPV can be transmitted through oral sex, researchers and scientists believe such transmission is likely to occur.
Perhaps the strongest piece of evidence in support of this is the fact that patients who have had prior HPV infection are 32 times more likely to develop oral malignancies than those who have not. In comparison, chronic alcohol consumption and tobacco smoking increase the risk of oral cancer by about 2. Men also largely attributed genital warts and anal cancer, but not oral cancer, to sexual behavior.
Many lesbians have also experienced heterosexual intercourse, increasing their risk for HPV. However, lesbians are less likely to regularly visit a reproductive health specialist and are therefore less exposed to information about HPV or make use of the preventative steps developed for women. The simplest approach to reducing the prevalence of HPV and HPV-related cancer in LGBT communities is to duplicate what is now the established preventative course for heterosexual women and cervical cancer; regular Pap smears coupled with suggested HPV vaccination for those most at risk.
