日本性感染症学会誌 Journal of Japanese Society for Sexually Transmitted Infections

The head and the neck play indispensable roles in sustaining life, such as breathing, eating, and swallowing as well as various functions related to quality of life, such as olfaction, taste, and verbal communication. In the treatment of head and neck cancer, radical cure and maintaining the quality of life are paramount. Over the past 20 years, substantial advancements, including cisplatin-based chemoradiotherapy, minimally invasive surgery using endoscopes and surgical robots, molecular targeted drugs, immune checkpoint inhibitors, particle therapy, photoimmunotherapy, and boron neutron capture therapy, have been developed. However, a shift in the epidemiology of head and neck cancers has been observed. Laryngeal cancers caused by smoking are decreasing as the public becomes more conscious about their health. However, human papillomavirus (HPV)-related oropharyngeal cancers are increasing annually. In the United States, the number of oropharyngeal cancer cases has already exceeded that of cervical cancer, suggesting the need for routine HPV vaccination for boys, promoting a gender-neutral vaccination approach.