The natural history of type-specific human papillomavirus (HPV) infections was examined in a cohort of 331 women aged 18-35 years who self-referred for routine gynecological care. Participants underwent a gynecological examination at baseline and at approximately 4 and approximately 10 months after baseline. Cervical samples were collected for HPV testing and genotyping at each visit, as was information on reproductive, sexual, and medical histories. The rate of new HPV infections was 2.9% per month; the highest rates were observed for HPV types 16, 39, 84, and 51. Among women who tested negative for HPV at baseline, the cumulative probability of acquiring an oncogenic HPV strain during a 12-month follow-up period was 0.32, compared with 0.18 for nononcogenic strains. Women who had had >/=1 new male sex partner in the recent past were significantly more likely to acquire a new HPV infection (relative hazard, 2.39; 95% confidence interval, 1.20-4.76). The median time to clearance of infection was significantly longer for oncogenic strains (9.8 months) than for nononcogenic strains (4.3 months).

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Background. Human papillomavirus (HPV) infection in men contributes to infection and cervical disease in women as well as to disease in men. This study aimed to determine the optimal anatomic site(s) for HPV detection in heterosexual men.Methods. A cross-sectional study of HPV infection was conducted in 463 men from 2003 to 2006. Urethral, glans penis/coronal sulcus, penile shaft/prepuce, scrotal, perianal, anal canal, semen, and urine samples were obtained. Samples were analyzed for sample adequacy and HPV DNA by polymerase chain reaction and genotyping. To determine the optimal sites for estimating HPV prevalence, site-specific prevalences were calculated and compared with the overall prevalence. Sites and combinations of sites were excluded until a recalculated prevalence was reduced by <5% from the overall prevalence.Results. The overall prevalence of HPV was 65.4%. HPV detection was highest at the penile shaft (49.9% for the full cohort and 47.9% for the subcohort of men with complete sampling), followed by the glans penis/coronal sulcus (35.8% and 32.8%) and scrotum (34.2% and 32.8%). Detection was lowest in urethra (10.1% and 10.2%) and semen (5.3% and 4.8%) samples. Exclusion of urethra, semen, and either perianal, scrotal, or anal samples resulted in a <5% reduction in prevalence.Conclusions. At a minimum, the penile shaft and the glans penis/coronal sulcus should be sampled in heterosexual men. A scrotal, perianal, or anal sample should also be included for optimal HPV detection.

Background: Human papillomavirus (HPV) is sexually transmitted and causes cervical cancer. Although HPV can infect men and women, little is known about infection in men. Specifically, the prevalence of type-specific HPV infection and the distribution of infections by anogenital anatomic site in men are incompletely characterized. Methods: We tested 463 men ages 18 to 40 years for HPV at the glans/corona, penile shaft, scrotum, urethra, perianal area, anal canal, and in a semen sample. Eligible men acknowledged no history of genital warts and had sexual intercourse with a woman within the past year. HPV testing by PCR and reverse line blot genotyping for 37 types was conducted on each of the specimens from the seven sampling sites. Results: When HPV results from any sampling site were considered, 237 (51.2%) men were positive for at least one oncogenic or nononcogenic HPV type, and another 66 (14.3%)

HPV infection in men was common, with relatively rapid rates of acquisition and clearance.

Data collected from 2,197 white ovarian cancer patients and 8,893 white controls in 12 US case-control studies conducted in the period 1956-1986 were used to evaluate the relation of invasive epithelial ovarian cancer to reproductive and menstrual characteristics, exogenous estrogen use, and prior pelvic surgeries. Clear trends of decreasing risk were evident with increasing number of pregnancies (regardless of outcome) and increasing duration of breast feeding and oral contraceptive use. Ovarian dysfunction leading to both infertility and malignancy is an unlikely explanation for these trends for several reasons: 1) The trends were evident even among the highly parous; 2) risk among nulliparous women did not vary by marital status or gravidity; and 3) risk among ever-married women showed little relation to length of longest pregnancy attempt or history of clinically diagnosed infertility. Risk was increased among women who had used fertility drugs and among women with long total duration of premenopausal sexual activity without birth control; these associations were particularly strong among the nulligravid. No consistent trends in risk were seen with age at menarche, age at menopause, or duration of estrogen replacement therapy. A history of tubal ligation or of hysterectomy with ovarian conservation was associated with reduced ovarian cancer risk. These observations suggest that pregnancy, breast feeding, and oral contraceptive use induce biological changes that protect against ovarian malignancy, that, at most, a small fraction of the excess ovarian cancer risk among nulliparous women is due to infertility, and that any increased risk associated with infertility may be due to the use of fertility drugs.

Many studies have reported that adherence to health promotion guidelines for diet, physical activity, and maintenance of healthy body weight may decrease cancer incidence and mortality. A systematic review was performed to examine associations between adherence to established cancer prevention guidelines for diet and physical activity and overall cancer incidence and mortality. PubMed, Google Scholar, and Cochrane Reviews databases were searched following the current recommendations of Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analysis Approach (PRISMA). Twelve studies met inclusion criteria for this review. High versus low adherence to established nutrition and physical activity cancer prevention guidelines was consistently and significantly associated with decreases of 10% to 61% in overall cancer colorectal cancer incidence in both men and women (27%-52%). Consistent significant reductions were also shown for breast cancer incidence (19-60%), endometrial cancer incidence (23-60%), and colorectal cancer incidence in both men and women (35-52%). Findings for lung cancer incidence were equivocal and no significant relationships were found between adherence and ovarian or prostate cancers. Adhering to cancer prevention guidelines for diet and physical activity is consistently associated with lower risks of overall cancer incidence and mortality, including for some site-specific cancers.

A promotora-based educational intervention can be used to increase breast and cervical cancer screening utilization among Hispanic women.