Cancer specialists warned on Wednesday that human papillomavirus is driving a sharp rise in throat and mouth cancers among men, urging health authorities to widen HPV vaccination programmes beyond their traditional focus on adolescent girls. The warning followed new analyses circulated this week by researchers in the United States and Europe.

HPV vaccination has dramatically reduced cervical cancer rates over the past two decades, but oropharyngeal cancers, which affect the base of the tongue and tonsils, have climbed steadily. Men are diagnosed with HPV-linked throat cancers at roughly four to five times the rate of women, in part because of differences in how the virus is cleared.

Researchers pointed to lagging vaccine uptake among boys and older men, many of whom were never offered the shot when programmes began. The American Cancer Society and clinicians quoted this week noted that no routine screening test exists for oropharyngeal cancer, making prevention through vaccination the primary tool.

Public health officials in several countries have already adopted gender-neutral HPV vaccination, and the new data strengthened calls to close remaining coverage gaps. Specialists said catch-up programmes for young adults could prevent thousands of future cases, though the full benefit would take years to appear given the long latency of the disease.

"We eliminated much of cervical cancer by vaccinating girls, and we can do the same for these throat cancers by making sure boys and young men are protected," one oncologist said.