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More than half of oropharyngeal cancer cases in the U.S. and other developed countries are caused by human papillomavirus type 16 (HPV-16) and presumably are preceded by chronic HPV-16 infection. Prevalent oropharyngeal HPV-16 infection is uncommon (occurring in 1% of cancer-free people) and has a bimodal age distribution that peaks around ages 30 and 60, which suggests that although many infections clear spontaneously, some persist. However, data about acquisition and clearance of oropharyngeal HPV are limited. In this study, researchers assayed rinse-and-gargle oral specimens from 1626 initially cancer-free men (age range, 18–73) from the U.S., Mexico, and Brazil at 6-month intervals for as long as 4 years.
During the first 12 months of fo…