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Research Reveals Oral Sex May Be Leading Cause of Mouth, Throat Cancers

2011-10-07 12:12:26

Mouth and throat cancer, called oropharynx cancer, used to be a disease seen

most commonly in elderly persons. Tobacco smoking and alcohol use were known to

be the leading causes of oropharyngeal cancer. Today, oral sex is listed as the

leading cause of cancer of the mouth and throat.

New research, published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, demonstrates that

human papillomavirus, HPV, is the leading cause of cancer of the oropharnyx in

the U.S. The number of people diagnosed with HPV-related oral cancers in the

U.S. tripled from 1998 to 2004.

Currently, as NPR reports, almost 10,000 new cases of oral and throat cancer

are diagnosed each year, with a 28 percent increase in incidence since 1988.

Interestingly, the majority of those who are being diagnosed with the

HPV-related oropharyngeal cancers are men. This leads researchers to wonder if

the vaccine against HPV that is recommended for teenage girls may be affording

that gender with protection against oropharyngeal cancer, as well as the

currently known protection against cervical cancer.

Researchers have noted a marked drop in non-HPV-related mouth and throat

cancers since the American population has begun to turn away from tobacco

smoking.

The oropharyngeal cancer most commonly affects the tonsils, palate, base of the

tongue and the upper throat. Whereas this type of cancer was previously seen

most often in aged patients, it is now more common at younger ages, including

baby boomers and their juniors, reports Bloomberg News.

HPV is the most commonly transmitted sexual disease, but as Dr. Gregory

Masters, an oncologist at the Helen Graham Cancer Center in Delaware reminds

us, research is not yet clear that oral sex is the main or only transmission

factor in this cancer,

Dr. Maura Gillison, author of the research published in the Journal of Clinical

Oncology states that persons who have had six or more partners on whom they've

practiced unprotected oral sex are eight times more likely than those who have

not had oral sex to develop the HPV-related mouth and throat cancers, reports

CBS News.

Merck, the pharmaceutical company that manufactures the HPV vaccine, has issued

a statement that there are no current plans to research the usefulness of the

vaccine against oropharyngeal cancers.

Smack dab in the middle of the baby boomer generation , L.L. Woodard is a proud

resident of "The Red Man" state. With what he hopes is an everyman's view of

life's concerns both in his state and throughout the nation, Woodard presents

facts and opinions based on common-sense solutions.