Oral sex, number of partners leading risk factors for throat cancers
It is estimated that about 13 million Americans, including teens, become infected with HPV each year.
Oral sex is causing a throat cancer epidemic in America, according to recent reports, and Professor Hisham Mehanna of the Birmingham Institute of Cancer and Genomic Sciences says the human papillomavirus (HPV) is the culprit.
HPV is a sexually transmitted infection (STI) that may cause cervical, anal, mouth, or throat cancer later in life, per the CDC.
“For oropharyngeal cancer, the main risk factor is the number of lifetime sexual partners, especially oral sex,” Mehanna wrote for The Conversation. “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.”
Data from the national public health agency suggest that 41% of teens between 15 and 19 engage in oral sex. It is also estimated that about 13 million Americans, including teens, become infected with HPV each year.
The virus is spread from person to person through intimate skin-to-skin contact. Sexual contact with someone with HPV, even if they don’t display symptoms, can lead to infection, according to the CDC.
The American Cancer Society reports that HPV-linked oropharyngeal cancer cases increased annually by 1.3% in women and 2.8% in men from 2015 to 2019. This type of cancer affects the tonsils, the base of the tongue, and the back of the throat. In the U.S., 70% of oropharyngeal cancers are caused by HPV infection, according to the CDC.
The CDC also said that, “nearly all sexually active men and women get the virus at some point in their lives.” When contracted, HPV is usually harmless and many people clear it on their own without any complications.
According to Mehanna, “a small number of people” are not able to get rid of an HPV infection, and this is partly due to “a particular aspect of their immune system.”
“In those patients,” Mehanna writes, “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.”
Vaccinating your child against HPV at age 11 or 12 can prevent these cancers, according to experts. The HPV vaccine has been approved for people aged 9 to 26.
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