03 Oct Increased Alcohol Use Linked To Greater Risk of HPV Infection
MedicalResearch.com: Interview with:
Matthew B. Schabath, Ph.D
Assistant Member, Department of Cancer Epidemiology
Moffitt Cancer Center Tampa, Florida
Medical Research: What are the main findings of the study?
Dr. Schabath: Overall, the results from these analyses demonstrated that men who consumed the highest amounts of alcohol were associated with an increased risk for genital human papillomavirus (HPV) infections.
Medical Research: What was most surprising about the results?
Dr. Schabath: Sexual behavior did not have an impact on our findings. When we stratified the analyses by lifetime number of sexual partners, we still consistently found men who consumed higher amounts of alcohol were at the greatest risk of HPV infection regardless of number of sexual partners.
Medical Research: What should clinicians and patients take away from your report?
Dr. Schabath: Presently these results cannot be considered causal and should be interpreted with caution; yet, our findings do provide additional support to current public health messaging regarding the importance of moderate alcohol consumption and safe sex practices.
Medical Research: What recommendations do you have for future research as a result of this study?
Dr. Schabath: The biological mechanisms underlying the association between alcohol consumption and genital HPV infection remains understudied and limited epidemiologic data exist especially among men. Additional research is needed to replicate the current findings before clinical interventions can be recommended.
Citation:
Original article: Alcohol consumption and prevalence of human papillomavirus (HPV) infection among US men in the HPV in Men (HIM) study
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Last Updated on October 3, 2014 by Marie Benz MD FAAD