An expert has offered their opinion as to why men seem to be disproportionately affected by HPV-related oral cancers.HPV, or human papillomavirus, is an extremely common sexually transmitted infection that sometimes causes no symptoms but can result in genital warts or long-term cancers.As per reports, there are over 200 strains of the virus, and while as many as 90% of infections clear on their own within two years, 14 strains are known to cause precancerous changes or cancer itself.The Center for Disease Control (CDC) claim that around 10 per cent of men and 3.6 per cent of women are known to carry the virus, making it the most common in the US.

Perhaps the most well-known case of HPV was that of iconic actor Michael Douglas, who was diagnosed with stage four throat cancer in 2010. Douglas acknowledged publicly that the disease could be linked to oral sex, while also mentioning smoking and drinking as other potential causes.Experts have warned that it can be decades before HPV develops into cancer in the back of the throat, also known as oropharyngeal cancer.Karis Betts, a cancer epidemiologist from Cancer Research UK, revealed to LADbible that HPV infections can go unnoticed for years before developing into cancer.There are studies that look at risk for different people. Straight women who have sex with men have a higher risk than women who have sex exclusively with women. And men who have sex with men have higher risk than straight men.