Oral sex is fueling an ‘epidemic’ of throat cancer, doctor warns

Oral sex is the X-rated culprit behind a wave of throat cancer cropping up in the US, fueling a so-called “epidemic.”

According to Hisham Mehanna, a professor at the Institute of Cancer and Genomic Sciences at the University of Birmingham, the human papillomavirus is to blame.

“For oropharyngeal cancer, the main risk factor is the number of lifetime sexual partners, especially oral sex,” he wrote for the Conversation Tuesday.

Cases of HPV-linked oropharyngeal cancer, a type of throat cancer, rose annually by 1.3% in women and 2.8% in men from 2015 to 2019, according to the American Cancer Society.

The CDC estimates that 70% of oropharyngeal cancers — which affect the tonsils, base of the tongue and back of the throat — are caused by HPV infection in the US.

Past studies have shown that multiple sexual partners could increase the risk of catching HPV and, in turn, developing mouth or throat cancer.

In 2021, researchers discovered that people with 10 or more oral sex partners were more than four times more likely to develop HPV-related mouth and throat cancers.

According to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 41% of teens from 15 to 19 participate in oral sex.

Young people ages 15 to 24 were responsible for nearly half of the 26 million new STD infections in 2018.

HPV is one of the most common sexually transmitted infections (STIs), affecting an estimated 42 million Americans.

In fact, it’s so prevalent, according to the CDC, that “nearly all sexually active men and women get the virus at some point in their lives.”

Typically harmless — many people clear the virus on their own with no complications — the virus can lead to cervical or oropharyngeal cancers in some cases.

 

Source: https://nypost.com/2023/04/27/oral-sex-fueling-epidemic-of-throat-cancer-doctor-warns/