HPV - higher risk for partners?

Hi MiniMouse  & welcome to the Macmillan online community. 

As you are probably already aware quite a high percentage of anal cancers are HPV related, the ballpark figure at present seems to be around 90%, although I’ve never been told if mine was HPV driven or not, I have never had a HPV positive smear test & I’ve had those every 5 years, I’m now 58 with my most recent smear being a couple of weeks ago. 

The majority of people that have been sexually active will have come into contact with HPV at some point & in most cases peoples immune system will just take care of HPV the way it does with any other virus & will clear it. There are a few strains of HPV that have the potential to cause several different cancers but the most prevalent suspects seem to be HPV16 & 18. From what I understand a partner of someone with a HPV driven cancer is still at quite low risk of developing a related cancer themselves. 

There’s an excellent article on the main Macmillan site that will explain this further, for some reason it won’t allow me to post the link but if you log out of the online community & search on the main Macmillan site ‘Human Papilloma Virus (HPV)’ it should take you straight to the article & hopefully that will offer you some answers. 

Please come back if there’s anything else you think we may be able to help with. 

Nicola 

Hi Minimouse there is a good article on HPV on the Cancer Research website which covers this but no there should be no additional risk. Around 80% of adults will have HPV at some stage but the good news is that a whole generation is coming through who have been vaccinated against HPV. HPV is responsible for 5% of cancers worldwide this includes cervical cancer, penile and some head and neck cancers, There is more info on the Anal Cancer Foundation website, they campaigned vigorously to ensure that boys had equal access to the vaccine which is offered through schools and  which many of us are too late to benefit from, please encourage your children or grandchildren to get the vaccine.

Jill

Hi MiniMouse 

You have had some good answers already to your question, and there is not thought to be any additional risk to partners. However, there is no screening test for men. Most people’s immune system will clear the virus within 2 years and they will not know they have had it, but there is no cure for it. 

Given the huge numbers of people in the world who come in contact with hpv, the incidence of cancer developing is small, and no greater risk for someone who has a partner with hpv. 

The vaccine now available to both boys and girls is a great advance, but like any vaccine is not fail safe and you can still get an hpv related cancer despite being vaccinated. However, hopefully everyone will encourage young people to have this-there has been a big reduction in the number of cervical cancer cases since its introduction so that’s definitely a positive outcome. 

Sarah xx

Thank you all very much for your responses, I will look at the article on the main website. Much appreciated. 

Thanks for asking this, MM, I'd been wondering too but hadn't got around to asking yet!