Alert! Oral Sex Can Cause Throat Cancer

JAKARTA – Human papillomavirus (HPV) can spread during seks oral thus increasing the odds cancer. In the United States, HPV is the most common sexually transmitted virus. Sexual health presents various risks, but worrying about potential health problems can decrease intimacy between partners and, ultimately, quality of life.

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Although caution is always advised when it comes to protecting against sexual health problems, it is important to know the facts. Although smoking and drinking alcohol are major risk factors throat cancer, the HPV virus can also be linked to throat cancer. An estimated 35% of throat cancers are linked to HPV infection.

HPV has been shown to be one of the major risk factors for mouth and throat cancer, known as oropharyngeal cancer. Infection does not directly cause oral cancer. The virus triggers changes in infected cells. Viral genetic material becomes part of cancer cells, causing them to grow. This can lead to detection of HPV in people who have cancer caused by other factors.

Later, these cells can become cancerous. However, only a few people with HPV infection will develop cancer. In fact, the body clears about 90% of HPV infections within 2 years. Almost all of the HPV subtypes found in the mouth are sexually transmitted, so the possible cause is oral sex.

Like quoting Medical News Today, people who smoke are less likely to clear HPV infection because smoking destroys the immune cells in the skin. This usually helps protect against virus damage. In a study published in New England Journal of Medicine in 2007, researchers suggested that people who have oral sex with at least six different partners have a higher risk of developing it throat cancer significantly.

The team recruited 100 patients who had recently been diagnosed with oropharyngeal cancer, as well as a control group of 200 healthy people. They found that people who had at least six oral sex partners during their lifetime were 3.4 times more likely to develop throat cancer. Those who had 26 or more vaginal sex partners had a 3.1-fold risk of developing throat cancer.

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The presence of cancer-causing oral HPV was found in another study of 14.9% in men who smoked tobacco and had more than five oral sex partners. Men with one of these risk factors decreased their risk of throat cancer by 7.3%. The prevalence was much lower for men (1.7%) and women (0.7%) who had one or fewer lifetime oral sex partners.

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