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Saturday, February 2, 2008

A Little Bad News for the Ladies

posted by on February 2 at 15:54 PM

Some boys are going to be using this as an excuse:

HPV gains as source of oral cancer in men, study finds

The sexually transmitted virus that causes cervical cancer in women is poised to become one of the leading causes of oral cancer in men, according to a new study.

The human papillomavirus (HPV) now causes as many cancers of the upper throat as tobacco and alcohol, probably due to an increase in oral sex and the decline in smoking, researchers said.

The only available vaccine against HPV, made by Merck, is given only to girls and young women. But Merck plans this year to ask government permission to offer the shot to boys.

Thanks to Slog tipper Thor.

RSS icon Comments

1

Eh, whatever. You gotta go down sometime (pun intended), might as well do it in style.

Posted by Jerod | February 2, 2008 4:07 PM
2

Are the lesbos worried?

Posted by Cat in Chicago | February 2, 2008 4:24 PM
3

Also- Somebody should do a post about the shooting at Lane Bryant so I can make a tasteless and totally fat-phobic comment.

Posted by Jerod | February 2, 2008 4:26 PM
4

or not.

Posted by Jerod | February 2, 2008 4:26 PM
5

Yeah. I've been thinking about that. Why would they develop this vaccine against HPV and then only give it to half the population? What kind of sense does that make from an epidemiological standpoint?

Posted by Greg | February 2, 2008 4:36 PM
6

how about from going down on guys? if you go down on a guy who has HPV, what is the risk?

Posted by konstantConsumer | February 2, 2008 4:40 PM
7

It's always bothered me that they call it a "vaccine for cervical cancer." It doesn't eliminate cervical cancer, it only eliminates one possible cause of it. I've also thought it's silly that boys wouldn't get the HPV vaccine either. However, I know it's the "morally outraged" that are the problem... the ones who think if you don't tell teenagers about sex, they'll somehow magically never have sex. I'm sure it makes them feel better to think it's a cancer vaccine rather than what it really is, an STD vaccine.

Posted by GregS | February 2, 2008 4:42 PM
8

The last part of that article reads..

"Indeed, it's not clear that the vaccine even prevents the HPV infection in males, let alone cancer or any other illness, said Debbie Saslow of the American Cancer Society."

Posted by murmurmur | February 2, 2008 4:47 PM
9

there's no reason why it shouldn't protect men from HPV infection; they just haven't finished testing it yet. it was validated in women first because HPV causes cancer at much higher rates in women than men, which made it much easier and cheaper. the goal is to give it to everyone eventually.

Posted by brandon | February 2, 2008 4:57 PM
10

They should have been doing this from the beginning because of anal cancer. The drug companies and media never stopped to consider how gay men are affected by HPV or that some of the teens out there today just might, dare I say it, be gay and should be protected beforehand. No No, all teenage boys love pussy and it's just a chick disease, so as long as its a pussy, let the boys fuck their brains out.

But now that the straight boys dicks and mouthes are on the line, its suddenly important that the boys get the shot.

Fucking Jesus Christ Goddamn it!

Posted by brandon h | February 2, 2008 5:03 PM
11

(Gulp)

Posted by Andy Niable, Expert Deepthroater | February 2, 2008 5:17 PM
12

Who wants their nickname changed to The Catfish, right?

Posted by Kent Cudgel | February 2, 2008 6:37 PM
13

HPV is serious. Everybody jokes about it but it's not funny. Same with herpes. Grow up people.

Posted by chris | February 2, 2008 6:55 PM
14

Would gay men need to worry about this? Not like we're going down on ladies, but it seems to be as contagious as the flu...

If so, do we get the shot from a general doctor?

Posted by Wes | February 2, 2008 7:09 PM
15

HPV's are very slow-growing viruses; it takes years or decades for an infection to turn into cancer. There are 100 of them that cause warts, but only a few additionally cause cancer. The reasons that it's not approved for boys yet are:

1) It's very expensive to do the tests; you've got to keep track of people tested with it for a decade or more.

2) Many many more women get cervical cancer than anybody gets viral-caused oral cancer, or at least that was true in the late '90's.

3) So they tested it only on girls first; hence we don't know for sure that it will work on boys (though the odds are good). But the FDA almost ALWAYS errs on the side of caution to prevent another thalidomide disaster.

4) The vaccine is very expensive to make, and therefore expensive to get - over $400, and many forms of insurance don't cover it. And it takes 3 injections over 3 months. That's a lot to ask of parents, especially those at lower incomes, even though it's the right thing to do.

We may not get universal health care, no matter who gets elected, but everyone should demand universal government-paid vaccination. Every person vaccinated helps keep you from getting that disease. This should be considered a matter of national defense (one reason why a lot of vaccine research is actually funded by the defense department).

Posted by Biologist in the Hinterlands | February 2, 2008 8:00 PM
16

Making men into women...awesome.

You guys gonna starting sitting down to take a piss too?

Posted by ecce homo | February 2, 2008 8:12 PM
17

It makes logical sense that HPV for guys would prevent these anal and throat cancers; a virus that causes cancer of a mucosal tissue probably doesn't care what gender the infected person is. So I'd guess that gay guys are just as likely to get infected from going down on infected men as straight guys are from going down on infected women. Plus, once it becomes a common oral infection, then everyone will be getting it from kissing and all bets are off.

I think the boys will be getting the vaccine in the not-so-distant future; and that is a good thing. Even if they don't, my little girl is getting it when she's old enough. She's a strong-minded person and won't be pressured into anything she doesn't want to do just because one disease has been counteracted. The sexually repressed should realize that most girls who aren't put off by the much larger and more immediate risk of pregnancy, certainly won't be put off by the chance of cervical cancer in forty years. Heck, we can't get kids not to smoke or tan, and the cancers associated with those habits are much more likely than cervical cancer.

Posted by SpookyCat | February 2, 2008 8:41 PM
18

I sit down to pee more often than not. Nice to take a load off now and again. Got a problem with that, ecco?

Posted by Fnarf | February 2, 2008 9:00 PM
19

IT's ECCE!!!

Get it right FFART!!!

Posted by ecce homo | February 2, 2008 9:28 PM
20

umm.... can you guys keep it down? i don't want my boyfriend to hear about this... ever.

Posted by M | February 2, 2008 10:05 PM
21

G-d finds the woman-hole to be icky and un-republican. G-d created the valiant penis as a mighty weapon against its shamefulness. Licking or even gazing upon the woman-hole is an abomination.

Posted by James Dobson | February 2, 2008 10:48 PM
22

Jerod -

I'm still waiting for Dan to post about how the fatties were an easy target, being large and slow, and therefore deserved to get shot.

Posted by fatguy | February 2, 2008 11:04 PM
23

God forbid we devote a single tax dollar to research or promotion of a vaccine that could help a homosexual... no, i mean literally, they think God forbids... oh, it just makes me tired.

Young queers, go get the shot. Older queers--it's probably too late.

Posted by Andy Niable | February 2, 2008 11:13 PM
24

oh damn. so thats why....uh, nevermind....

Posted by catnextdoor in albuquerque | February 3, 2008 12:43 AM
25

@ 22

YEAH! YOUR CUTTING REMARK WILL MAKE DAN THINK TWICE ABOUT HIS NARROW-MINDED ATTITUDE TOWARDS THE NATURALLY PLUMP.

Posted by bob | February 3, 2008 1:07 AM
26

wow, I guess this means she'd be a bad president. There goes my vote!

Posted by angelfish | February 3, 2008 3:51 PM
27

Do dental dams really exist? And if so, where are they sold?

Posted by Sex Kills | February 3, 2008 9:27 PM
28

@27: Go to Safeway. It's called Saran Wrap.

Posted by Greg | February 4, 2008 9:20 AM
29

It's not like losing what little head we already get (from men) is going to be that big a deal; most men are so inept at it already that it's not exactly world-shaking.

(Here's a hint, fellas - EAT is just an expression. Slow the fuck down and stop gnawing.)

Posted by Eh, whatever | February 4, 2008 3:03 PM
30

>21

who the hell is G-d?

Posted by that guy | February 5, 2008 5:47 PM

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