Does the HPV vaccine prevent oral HPV?

Most people have heard of HPV, and that it’s tied to cervical cancer. But most people don’t know that it’s tied to a host of other cancers.

With the global rise in HPV-related cancers, it makes sense to ask: do current vaccination strategies protect people against developing these cancers?

Here’s what we know.

HPV doesn’t affect just the genitals. There are several different types of HPV infection, each with its own complications and risks.

Oral HPV is one of these lesser-known infections that can cause certain cancers in the mouth and throat. HPV can affect the back of the throat, including the tonsils and the base of the tongue. This area is called the oropharynx. Over time, high-risk HPV viruses infect this area, causing cells in a small number of cases to grow abnormally, which can result in cancers.

The exact mechanism isn’t known. Incidence and prevalence of oral HPV vary widely all around the world, largely attributed to sample collection methods and variance in study populations.  But most experts suspect that most HPV infections are contracted by performing oral sex on an infected person. Infected bodily fluids from the genitals infect the mucosa at the back of the throat.

Anyone who is sexually active can get HPV. You do not need to have lots of sexual partners to be exposed to the virus, and many people get HPV without ever knowing it.

A major risk factor is the number of sexual partners over the course of a lifetime, along with certain sexual behaviors, like receptive oral sex. Other risk factors include a younger age for sexual debut, being a man who has sex with men, being a woman who has sex with women, engaging in commercial sex, and a history of smoking, including cigarettes and marijuana.

There are many ways that you can reduce your risk of getting oral HPV:

• Don’t smoke: Smoking tobacco will increase your risk of developing a large number of mouth conditions, including oral cancers caused by HPV. New research has also shown that vaping may also increase the risk, although more research on this topic is needed.
• Quit drinking: Drinking alcohol can increase your risk of developing a wide range of cancers. Some research has suggested that combined alcohol consumption and infection with HPV 16 may increase the risk of developing oral cancer, particularly squamous cell carcinoma of the oropharynx.
• Get vaccinated: Vaccination against HPV will reduce your risk of developing HPV-related mouth and throat cancers.
• Eat a balanced diet: Maintaining a diet rich in fruits, vegetables, and fiber will provide the vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants that can help reduce cell damage.

If you have a strain of HPV before you get vaccinated, you’ll have that strain until your body clears it naturally. The HPV vaccine trains your immune system to produce antibodies that recognise the virus before it infects your cells, making it a preventive measure. When the virus infects the cells, it loses the surface proteins that your antibodies use to detect the virus. Antibodies created by vaccination will thus have nothing to attach to.

However, just because you have one strain doesn’t mean you can’t get others. Getting vaccinated against high-risk HPV, even if you already have one strain, can still protect you from future complications. Getting vaccinated may also help your immune system clear the virus at a higher rate.

Most people with oral HPV have no symptoms at all. This is one reason HPV can be passed on without anyone realising. In many cases, the infection clears naturally and causes no long-term problems.

HPV itself does not usually cause a sore throat or visible changes in the mouth. Symptoms that may be linked to oropharyngeal cancer can include a persistent sore throat, ear pain, hoarseness, swollen lymph nodes, pain when swallowing, unexplained weight loss, or a lump in the neck. These symptoms can have many causes, but if they do not go away, you should speak to a doctor or dentist promptly.

There is currently no routine screening program for oral HPV in the way that cervical screening checks for high-risk HPV on the cervix.

So, does the HPV vaccine prevent oral HPV? The answer is that it helps protect against the HPV types that can cause oral and throat cancers, so it may reduce the risk of HPV-related oropharyngeal cancer. The strongest protection comes from being vaccinated before exposure to HPV.

If you’re worried about your sexual health, have symptoms, or have had oral sex and want to check for other STIs, Better2Know can help you get fast, confidential testing and clear advice on what to do next.