The Truth About HPV, Hormones, and Cancer Risk

When it comes to cancer, risk does not mean destiny—and understanding the facts can make all the difference.

In this episode of Baptist HealthTalk, Dr. Anthony Gonzalez is joined by Dr. Justin Dubin, Director of Men’s Sexual Health at Baptist Health Miami Cancer Institute, and Dr. Ryan Matthew Kahn, Gynecologic Oncologist with Baptist Health Cancer Care.

Together, they break down the real connection between cancer, hormones, and HPV—separating myths from medical facts and highlighting what you can actually do to reduce your risk.

You’ll learn:

•  The most common cancers affecting men and women—and how to catch them early 
•  Updated screening guidelines, including changes to prostate cancer testing 
•  How hormones can influence cancer risk, treatment, and recovery 
•  The truth about testosterone and prostate cancer 
•  What HPV does in both women and men—including its link to throat cancer 
•  Why the HPV vaccine is important for all genders (and not just teens) 
•  Simple, actionable steps you can take today to support prevention 

Whether you’re thinking about your own health or looking out for your family, this episode offers clear, practical guidance to help you stay informed and proactive.

Host:
Anthony Gonzalez, M.D.
Chief of Surgery, Baptist Health Baptist Hospital
Medical Director of Bariatric Surgery, Baptist Health

Guests:
Justin Dubin, M.D.
Director of Men’s Sexual Health
Baptist Health Miami Cancer Institute

Ryan Matthew Kahn, M.D.
Gynecologic Oncologist
Baptist Health Cancer Care

If you found this episode helpful, you may also enjoy:

Can Cervical Cancer Be Cured? A Gynecologic Oncologist Answer

Erectile Dysfunction, Low Testosterone & Fertility Explained

HPV-Related Cancers

Transcript

SPEAKER_03 0:00

We've always associated HPV with women, but the truth is it absolutely impacts men as well. It can cause uh uh penile cancer, and it could also cause anal cancer for men. So, actually, the most common is the throat cancer cause, about 12,000, a little more than 12,000 cases a year of men getting throat cancer because of HPV. So, this is something that absolutely needs to be addressed for men, but reality is we also need to address it for men because we can be transmitting it to our female partners.

SPEAKER_00 0:31

Welcome to Baptist Health Talk, a podcast on all things healthcare powered by Baptist Health South Florida, your trusted source for health care prevention and wellness.

SPEAKER_02 0:41

Hello, everyone. I'm your host, Dr. Anthony Gonzalez. Welcome back to a new episode of Baptist Health Talk, where we answer your most searched questions on the trending health topics. Today we're unpacking the real connection between cancer, hormones, and HPV and what science really says about the risk, prevention, and long-term health. Because one of the biggest takeaways we want you to remember throughout this episode is this risk does not mean destiny. And with the right information and the right prevention, there's a lot we can do. Today we're joined by Dr. Justin Dubin, Director of Men's Sexual Health at Baptist Health's Miami Cancer Institute. And Dr. Ryan Matthew Kahn, gynecologic oncologist with Baptist Health Cancer Care. Thank you both for being here today. Thanks for having us. Thanks for having us. All right. So when someone hears the word cancer, they automatically think the worst. But many cancers can keep be caught early and are highly treatable. And in sometimes they're even preventable. So let's start with you, Dr. Dubin. What are some of those cancers in men that are most common and that they should be most aware about?

SPEAKER_03 2:01

So I think when we're talking about cancers in men, we're always going to think about prostate cancer, which is the most common cancer in men, and it's the second leading cause of death in men, actually, behind lung cancer. The good news about prostate cancer, it is incredibly screenable, something that we can detect, and all you have to do is go to the doctor. How do we screen for prostate cancer? Well, traditionally it was two things: the feared digital rectal exam, which is a finger in the butt, and then the PSA test, which is a blood test. Fortunately, about a year ago, the Urology Association changed their guidelines. The finger in the butt, the direct digital rectal exam is no longer mandatory. Thank God. And if you if you saw the Super Bowl commercial, tight ends can relax. Okay. So all you need is a simple blood test. And that's really important to know because a lot of guys were not going to the doctor because they feared getting the exam. You don't have to do that anymore. A simple blood test. Now, when do you do that, right? How early? How early? How early? So they also changed the guidelines on that. Now, if you're considered high risk or increased risk of having prostate cancer, people who are black or who have a history of prostate cancer or who have a genetic mutation, like the Baraka 2 mutation, which actually people associate with breast cancer, also associated with prostate cancer, we recommend starting at the age of 40 to get that blood test. Everyone else, we recommend starting at the age of 45. So that's one. The second one that I do want to address is the one that we also think about in men, testicle cancer. Testicle cancer is actually the most common cancer in men from the ages of 15 to 35. Um, it is quite rare still, um, but things that you can do is doing exams on yourself. If you feel a lump, bump, abnormality, or irregularity or discrepancy or size difference between your two testicles, you should go talk to a doctor about it. How I recommend you do the exam, usually a hot shower, hot bath where everything's relaxed, give yourself an exam and just check. You can check once a year, once every few few months, but that's something easy, safe to do. Feel something, say something.

SPEAKER_02 4:25

All right. So that's on the men's side. So on the women's side, Dr. Khan, what is the most common gynecological cancers that women should know about? And what are the warning signs, those early warning signs that should never ignore?

SPEAKER_01 4:39

Absolutely. So as a G1 oncologist, the primarily the three main G1 oncology cancers that we see and treat are ovarian cancer and fallopian tube cancer, uh, which is its own category, uterine cancers, which most commonly is endometrial cancer, and then third is cervical cancers. Now, starting with cervical cancers, uh, this is a different category from the two I just mentioned, ovarian and endometrial, because these are largely preventable and screenable. So caught early enough, these are highly curable, and we have very effective screening methods. That's with a PAP smear andor HPV co-testing. So people ask, you know, what are some signs that it may have cervical cancer or early cervical cancer? Unfortunately, a lot of early cervical cancers are so tiny or minuscule that they don't really cause symptoms. And that's why screening is so important to detect a lot of these early cancers on the cervical side, because you won't have symptoms until the later stages. So going to your physician, uh, right now there are a few different consensus guidelines, but for the most part, starting at the age of 21 to 29, screening with just PAP smears, which is just cervical cells looking for any atypical findings. And then from 30 to 65, every three to five years, depending on the frequency and what they find with normal or abnormalities, uh, co-testing with PAP screening as well as HPV testing. Also, very, very important for uh cervical cancer prevention is the HPV vaccine. And right now we know the HPV vaccine saves lives. If I could highlight one thing, it's we're gonna talk about that. Perfect. So we'll get into that and we'll get into the recommendations in regards to that. So unfortunately for ovarian cancer, we don't have great screening or surveillance methods to see sorry about that, to see women uh who may be caught on the earlier side. And because of that, uh majority of ovarian cancers, about 60 to 70 percent, are found in stage three and stage four. Um, unfortunately. So I always tell women, listen to your bodies. The the main symptoms you may see for ovarian cancer is something we say beats. So B is bloating, so abdominal distension, E is early satiety or any appetite changes, such as you know, feeling full earlier and the inability to eat. A is abdominal pain, so any pains in certain areas that may be abnormal. And T is toilet changes, so changes in bowel and or bladder may be signs. So it and that's the tough thing with ovarian cancer, too, is these are so nonspecific, you know, in general. It could be IBS, it could be gastritis, it could be other things causing these. So listen to your body, if something seems off cue, advocate for yourself. Go to see a physician and seek care. And lastly, endometrial cancer. So usually endometrial cancer presents very early on. We don't necessarily have great screening across the population, but any abnormal bleeding, uh any um, you know, intermittent bleeding in between periods that that may be abnormal, or if you're postmenopausal, any bleeding in general is very abnormal. So if you are past your periods, any bleeding, go seek care immediately. There's a very easy test with the abdominal or transvagal ultrasound that will look at your endometrial lining to go and seek care with that and and biopsies we can do. Um, so the those are the three main and things you may see with those. All right.

SPEAKER_02 8:08

So let's get into hormonal therapy. And this is for both of you. Hormones show up in cancer conversations in three different ways as treatment, as recovery, uh support, and as perceived risk. Can you break down those for us and and separate them?

SPEAKER_01 8:24

Yeah, absolutely. So just you hit the nail on the head. Yeah, hormones are almost a dual-edged sword, where there are some of our cancers, such as ovarian or endometrial, that may be caused or at an increased risk of cancer due to the hormone. So the main hormone we're talking about when we talk about endometrial cancer risk is estrogen. And this is unopposed estrogen. So usually what I say is estrogen and progesterone are like twins, but offset each other. So when endomet your endometrial lining gets thickened from estrogen, progesterone counteracts that and thins the lining. So if you have unopposed estrogen for whatever reason, a lot of times now we're seeing uh a high risk of endometrial cancer across the population due to obesity. And a large reason for that is fat cells produce estrogen. And those estrogen drive those endometrial cells to populate and become atypical. So usually what we do is treat this endometrial cancer with progesterone, which offsets that that estrogen uh lining. So when we talk about risk uh thing, the the main thing is is endometrial there. So in treatments, yes, uh hormone treatments, whether it's um uh aromatase inhibitors, we're seeing a lot in ovarian cancers and in low-grade type ovarian cancer treatments, as well as uh megase and things like that in in IUDs as well, and a lot of early stage and precancers and endometrium. So, on the other hand, not only increasing risk, but also offsetting these hormones could also treat a lot of these precancers and early cancers. And we'll get into HRT as well and the benefits and things like that in the next questions. All right.

SPEAKER_03 10:08

And what about in men? So there was this really um, I guess there was data suggesting that taking testosterone initially could cause prostate cancer. I'm happy to tell everyone that taking testosterone absolutely does not cause prostate cancer. It was controversial for a while. There's no data showing that. Um, can it make your prostate cancer worse? Can it cause recurrence of your prostate cancer after you are cured? The answer is it seems to be no. Um, so you know, I actually have patients that select, right, that are on active surveillance, low-risk prostate cancer, that we are putting on testosterone at this time. Does that mean that everyone should be on testosterone who has prostate cancer? Absolutely not. But I think it's really important for people who have low testosterone, who don't have prostate cancer, to understand that taking a medication to make you feel better and make you actually your bone health, your, your, you know, your energy, your libido, everything else better is not putting you at risk for prostate cancer.

SPEAKER_02 11:12

All right. And so what about part of treatment? Can the hormone therapy be part of their treatment as well?

SPEAKER_03 11:19

So I think anyone who has a history of cancer has a history, has has a higher risk of having low testosterone. That could be any cancer across the board because of the treatments, because of, you know, just being sick, um, that puts you at higher risk for having low testosterone. So oftentimes I always recommend oncologists or any patient who has cancer or who has been treated from cancer and is now cancer-free to go talk to a urologist and just get a workup. You know, you should be seeing a doctor on an annual basis anyway, uh, and not just your oncologist, if that's the case. Um, and they should be checking up on all the other aspects of your life and improving your quality of life. And a lot of men after cancer are great candidates for getting testosterone replacement therapy. And what I tell my patients is this cancer sucks. Life after cancer shouldn't have to. And that's you've done the hard part. You've you've overcome the hard part. And now it's time to bounce back into your life and continue living your best loved one.

SPEAKER_02 12:24

Let's talk about HPV. This is a topic, obviously, associated with women, but the reality is HPV affects both men and women. And it's a topic where there's a lot of confusion, a lot of stigma, misinformation. So let's make it simple, clear for everybody. Can you explain what HPV does to women, what it does to their body, and what is the cancer risk?

SPEAKER_01 12:45

Yeah, so HPV is human papillomavirus. This is commonly associated with genital or oral warts, but there are some high-risk types, serotypes with certain numbers that increase a woman's risk of developing cervical cancer in the future. Now, if you have HPV, does that mean you are going to get cervical cancer? Absolutely not. A majority of the population is exposed to HPV and are able to clear it with their own immune systems. Now, in certain women, and we're understanding more about why, but some women are able to clear it more easily than others. Now, when it persists for years and years uh and goes on to develop into cervical dysplasia and early pre-cancer, that's when it needs to be managed and screened more frequently.

SPEAKER_02 13:30

All right. And so obviously, women, it's important. What about in men? We know that HPV can cause a problem in men as well. And uh, and even there's talking about oral and throat cancers in men. So talk to us about HPV in men.

SPEAKER_03 13:42

Yeah, it's it's interesting because uh we've always associated HPV with women, but the truth is it absolutely impacts men as well. Um, first off, genital warts. Men and women have genital warts, but when it comes to cancer, um, it can cause oropharyngeal cancer, which is throat cancer, it can cause uh uh penile cancer, and it could also cause anal cancer for men. So actually, the most common is the throat cancer cause, about 12,000, a little more than 12,000 cases a year of men getting throat cancer because of HPV. So this is something that absolutely needs to be addressed for men, but reality is we also need to address it for men because we can be transmitting it to our female partners. So we have to take care of ourselves, and by taking care of ourselves, we're taking care of our partners as well.

SPEAKER_02 14:31

All right, and then the vaccine, you know, we know that obviously teenage girls have to be vaccinated. What about those boys?

SPEAKER_03 14:38

Oh, absolutely. Uh, we recommend boys and girls getting the vaccine for this exact reason, right? We're preventing cancer, we're preventing warts, and we're preventing transmission to other people, which is really, really important. And when we're looking at all of this data, right, we really understand that it's never really too late. The cutoff for men is actually 45 years old. I'll be honest, I got my HPV vaccine in my 30s. Why? Because I felt obligated to take care of myself so I can take care of others, and it's really important. So it's never too late. We want to get kids when they're young before they're sexually active to prevent the children from getting it and the females and males. But, you know, if you're an adult and you haven't been vaccinated, I still think it's worth getting.

SPEAKER_02 15:23

All right. All right. So let's end this on a high note. And because of this, there's people need to hear that there's more power in prevention. And even when you can't control everything, you can control a lot more than you think. So, Dr. Dubin, when it comes to cancer in men, what are some of their ways and their screenings, vaccines, lifestyle, the top things you want men to know about and do sooner that can be something they could start today? A simple step.

SPEAKER_03 15:51

The simplest thing that you can do that guys are not doing, go to a doctor. We just don't go to a doctor. Women have a point, right? They see a GYN. They go get tested from when they're kids to get checked up every year. Men, we don't have that. And what we need to do is whether it's a urologist, a primary care doctor, go see a doctor on a regular basis. That's the best way to screen for diseases, screen for cancer, and do preventative care that's preventing all the problems that you're worried about down the line. Check the PSA, check the PSA, check the testicles, check the testicles, check your hormone levels, check your cholesterol, your blood pressure, your sugar levels, all of that. They're all related. They can be, you know, mod monitored. You just have to go to a doctor to do it.

SPEAKER_02 16:40

All right. So go to a doctor. For the women listening, what's one thing you wish everybody understood about cancer risk, whether it's hormones and HPV that can really save their lives? And what's one conversation you wish more women would have with their doctor?

SPEAKER_01 16:56

Yeah, absolutely. So two sides. So, first, if I could leave the audience with one thing, it's that HP HPV vaccination saves lives. Screening for cervical cancer with PAP testing or HPV testing saves lives. Uh, so go and see your physicians. This could be your primary care physician, your family med doctor, your OBGYN. Get a PAP smear, get HPV testing. It will save lives, and get your HPV vaccine or help family members get their HPV vaccine. Now, something I hope patients also understand when we talk about ovarian and endometrial cancer, something we may not be able to screen for as well, is where you get your care matters. And that's been seen time and time again. So if you are diagnosed with ovarian or endometrial cancers, seek your care with a trained expert GYN oncologist who sees and treats this numerous times per month. Uh, the outcomes as far as uh treatment and disease outcomes are better and less morbidity and mortality. So get vaccinated, get tested. And if you do have the disease, go and seek care with an expert.

SPEAKER_02 18:02

This has been great conversation. Thank you to both of you for sharing your insight with our audience. And to everyone watching or listening, remember risk does not mean destiny. And the earlier you ask questions, get screened, and take prevention seriously, the more power you have. Be sure to hit that subscribe button on our channel right here to keep up with the latest health and wellness information and tips from our experts. Thanks for watching.

SPEAKER_00 18:31

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