HPV‐related oropharyngeal cancer: preventable and treatable if recognised early

Abstract

Oncogenic human papilloma virus (HPV) currently accounts for 50% of throat cancer cases in men in the UK. Due to the absence of conventional risk factors for head and neck cancer, many men are diagnosed late. Despite this, cure rates are high. Typically, the treatment is with surgery or chemoradiotherapy. The recently introduced programme of HPV vaccination in boys should, in the long‐term, see a dramatic reduction in this cancer type.