Long-Term Partners of Those With HPV Not Likely to be Infected
Here's some good news (if you can call it that). If your partner has oral cancer linked to the human papillomavirus (HPV) infection. there's a good chance you will not be affected. A new study has found that p artners of patients diagnosed with HPV-positive oropharyngeal cancer were no more likely to test positive for oral HPV infection than people in the general population, according to newswise.com. " The findings should lessen anxiety that (this) cancer is contagious, at least among long-term partners, and confirms that couples who have been together for several years do not need to change their intimacy or sexual behavior because of the cancer diagnosis," the Web site reports. HPV infection is common among men and women in the U.S., but the overwhelming majority of individuals with the infection will not get cancer. The incidence of HPV-positive head and neck cancers, however, has increased significantly over the past 20 years, particularly among n...