What is HPV infection? HPV stands for human papillomavirus, which is a highly contagious virus. HPV infection is caused by sexual contact, and patients often have no symptoms, and many people are unaware of the infection. Men don\’t have symptoms and are harder to detect. However, HPV infection is one of the causes of cancer. High-risk HPV types reveal an increased risk of cancer, such as anal cancer and throat cancer. Therefore it is important to measure HPV infection in men. HPV Testing Methods There are several different ways to test for HPV infection.