While highlighting the rise of throat cancer in the West, UK surgeon, Dr Hisham Mehanna said Oral sex is causing a new worrying “epidemic” and is reportedly the leading risk factor for throat cancer above smoking and alcohol.
In an article for The Conversation, Dr Mehanna said Oropharyngeal cancer (the area of the tonsils and back of the throat) has now become more common than cervical cancer in the US and the UK.
According to him, the main cause of this cancer is the human papillomavirus (HPV). HPV is sexually transmitted. For oropharyngeal cancer, the main risk factor is the multiple number sexual partners especially oral sex.
“Behavioural trends studies show that oral sex is very prevalent in some countries”.
“The prevailing theory is that most of us catch HPV infections and are able to clear them completely. However, a small number of people are not able to get rid of the infection, maybe due to a defect in a particular aspect of their immune system. In those patients, the virus is able to replicate continuously, and over time integrates at random positions into the host’s DNA, some of which can cause the host cells to become cancerous.
“Those with six or more lifetime oral-sex partners are 8.5 times more likely to develop oropharyngeal cancer than those who do not practice oral sex,” he wrote.
He said there’s “indirect evidence” that HPV vaccination may also be effective in preventing HPV infection in the mouth.
