However a new study shows a surge in the number of cases of oral cancer that test positive for the virus, which may soon make it the most common HPV related cancer.

Better known for causing cervical cancer, today HPV is responsible for the majority of cases of oropharyngeal cancer, which occurs mostly in the tonsils, below the tongue and on the upper throat. Though relatively rare, it is becoming increasingly prevalent. In the past, smoking and drinking were the two major factors that caused head and neck cancer. 

However, most of these types of cancer are becoming increasingly uncommon, a phenomenon scientists attribute to lower rates of smoking today than in the past. During the same period, the amount of oral sex and average number of oral sex partners increased.

In the late 1980s, only 16 percent of oropharyngeal tumors were HPV positive. 

In the early 2000’s almost 73 percent of cases were infected. Men are responsible for about three out of four cases, and that number is rising, implying that women may have a greater natural resistance to the virus.  

It may also be related to the greater pressure on women to get vaccinated against the disease, which traditionally has not been administered to men.

Currently there are two commercially available vaccines for HPV, but their effects on oral cancer is not yet known. 

Merck & Co., which makes the HPV vaccine Gardasil, has said that they do not plan on researching HPV-related oral cancer. 

No studies have been done on how to protect either gender from this cancer. 

With the disease so prevalent today, it is expected that the number of cases will only rise in the coming years.

Reach reporter Jaspar Abu-Jaber here