Oral Sex Causes Head, Throat And Neck Cancer

The latest national estimates of this disparity, published in October, from Deshmukh and his University of Florida colleagues, reveals that oral HPV infection rates are skewed by gender, just like the resulting cancers.

Now Dr. Bhavin Visavdia, consultant oral and maxillofacial surgeon, at the Watford Road hospital, said the human papillomavirus (HPV) can be found in the female cervix.

According to him, this has brought about changes in legislation that will see men receive a jab to protect them against the cancer-causing virus.

Dr. Visavdia reports of the rise in the number of patients with head and neck cancer as part of Make Sense, a national awareness week.

He said: “There has been a noticeable increase in recent years and oropharyngeal cancer can be triggered by contracting HPV which is a common cause of cervical cancer in women.

“Oral sex is the obvious candidate for transmission to men as the virus is found in the female cervix.”

Dr. Visavadia said the condition, which has been associated with older men who are heavy drinkers and smokers, is increasingly affecting younger men in their 40’s and 50’s.

He added: “Women are routinely immunized against HPV for cervical cancer but recent legislative changes will now see men receive a jab as well to prevent HPV related head and neck cancer.”

Research in Annals of Oncology showed 15 percent of men who smoked and had five or more oral sex partners were most likely to get HPV but smokers with few partners are also vulnerable to infection.

The lowest risk group is non-smokers who had one or no oral sex partners in their lifetimes, with only 1.5pc of them getting an oral HPV infection.

Film actor, Michael Douglas, had throat cancer due to oral sex

There are more than 100 different types of the virus, most of which cause no symptoms and go away by themselves without treatment.

Other types cause harmless growths such as verrucas and warts.

But HPV infections also increase the risk of developing cancers of the genitals, anus, mouth, and throat.

According to the British Association of Head and Neck Oncologists, which is backing the Make Sense campaign, head and neck cancer is now the seventh most common type of cancer in Europe.

Northwick Park Hospital, a regional center of excellence for head and neck cancer surgery and reconstruction, carries out more than 200 procedures a year.

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