Maura L. Gillison, MD, PhD (Damon Runyon-Lilly Clinical Investigator ‘00-‘05) of the Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center, Columbus, and colleagues reported that the prevalence of oral HPV (human papillomavirus) infection is about 7 percent in the United States. The prevalence was higher among men than among women. HPV-16, the high-risk strain linked to throat cancers and many cervical cancers, is detected in 1 percent of people. The authors identified smoking and sexual behavior as risk factors for HPV infection. The report was published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
