Oral sex increases risk of throat cancer

So much for safer sex.

Here's a crucial message for teens: Oral sex carries many of the same risks as vaginal sex, including human papilloma virus, or HPV. And HPV may now be overtaking tobacco as the leading cause of oral cancers in America in people under age 50.

"Adolescents don’t think oral sex is something to worry about," said Bonnie Halpern-Felsher professor of pediatrics at the University of California, San Francisco. "They view it as a way to have intimacy without having 'sex.'"

Halpern-Felsher and other researchers presented the latest information about the risks of contracting an HPV infection Sunday at the American Association for the Advancement of Science annual meeting.

The latest data suggest that 64% of oropharynx cancers - growing in the middle part of the throat - in the United States are caused by HPV, which is more than tobacco causes, said Maura Gillison of Ohio State University. And as the number of partners on whom you have performed oral sex goes up, the risk of oropharnyx cancer goes up.

About 37,000 people per year receive a diagnosis of oral cancer, according to the Oral Cancer Foundation.

Just about everyone has had at least one of the 130 strains of HPV. The vaccines currently available, Gardasil and Cervarix, only protect against a few of them. But not all of the strains are cancer-causing. Certain types cause warts on the hands and feet that are benign.

About 5% of cancers worldwide are caused by HPV, and some turn up in some surprising places. A University of Washington study found that some men carry HPV 26 under their fingernails, which can lead to a form of cancer called digital squamous cell carcinoma. Proper hand-washing can help prevent this from happening, said Dr. Diane Harper, leading HPV researcher at the University of Missouri in Kansas City.

But this isn't nearly as common as HPV causing cancer in other areas of the body, such as the oral cavity and the cervix.

In the countries that have cervical cancer screening, the prevalence of cervical cancer is five times lower than in other countries, indicating that the testing is effective, Harper said.

Why HPV causes cancer in some people and not others is still mysterious. Studies of the cervix have found that 70% of infections resolve by themselves within one year, and 90% within two years. It's that remaining 10% that actually turn into more serious infections, and 5% lead to treatable precancerous lesions, Harper said.

Two well-established mechanisms of prevention in terms of sexually transmitted HPV are condom usage and circumcision, although neither completely eliminates the risk, Harper said.

A large ongoing study called HITCH is examining questions of HPV transmission and infection in greater detail. So far, it's found that couples can "ping-pong" HPV back and forth to each other, which is one reason that the virus may take so long to clear naturally.

As for getting HPV from kissing, that's not clear, and there isn't enough data to say anything about it yet, Harper said.

It's very hard to get teens to listen to abstinence messages about oral sex, or to get them to use any kind of barrier method for these behaviors, Halpern-Felsher said. And since any risk factor under 50% sounds low to a very young person, throwing these precise statistics at them most likely won't make a difference.

But parents should have honest conversations with their teenagers about oral sex, Halpern-Felsher said. Tell them that the consequences of HPV may not happen right away, and while the risks may not be huge, they are significant. Potential long-term outcomes of cancer are quite concerning.

A virus increases the risk of throat cancer, not oral sex itself. That's what I got out of reading the article.

If you're with a virus-free person, or you've gotten a vaccine, oral sex is fine. This thread's title is misleading.

edited 21st Feb '11 2:48:08 PM by Grain

Later in the news today: Living results in death.

Give me a break.

If you're with a virus-free person, or you've gotten a vaccine, oral sex is fine.

HPV is one of those viruses that pretty much everyone carries in some form or other, but it's true the article doesn't really mention much in the way of relevant numbers for the ones we actually give a damn about. I'm turning up about 3.5% of test subjects carrying a carcinogenic and orally transmissible HPV strain.

Also, vaccines do a questionable amount against type 16, which is one of the ones in question. It only helps prevent initial infection, but won't curb one that's already there.

edited 21st Feb '11 4:06:34 PM by Pykrete

Doctor Manhattan jokes in 3,2,1...mark.

edited 21st Feb '11 2:48:06 PM by Kino

In tonights news, the war against tobacco has now turned its eyes on becoming the war against oral sex! More at 11.

Yeah, take that people who have sex!

...Sorry. Couldn't resist.

Wow. Infections you can get from getting someone else's bodily fluids in your genitals can also be gotten by getting said bodily fluids in your mouth!

Seriously, people need to be told this?

: No :P

Not only that, but there's only a 5% chance it'll turn into the treatable precursor to cancer!

Oh, and according to That Other Wiki:

Oral infection
A review of scientific studies in healthy subjects has found carcinogenic HPV in 3.5% of the studies subjects and HPV 16 in 1.3%.[80] Men have higher prevalence of oral HPV than women.[28]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_papillomavirus#Oral_infection

edited 21st Feb '11 4:07:08 PM by DrunkGirlfriend

treatable precursor

I think that's the key point that really needs to be stressed there

What is there that doesn't cause cancer?

I still remember the craze about cellphones melting brains.

I share Linhasxoc's view.

Well we're all getting cancer of the mouth

In tonights news, the war against tobacco has now turned its eyes on becoming the war against oral sex! More at 11.

They seem to dislike us putting things in our mouths. :D

So, if I go down on a girl while smoking a cigarette, I guess that doubles the risk?

For serious, fuck these studies. As has been stated, living is hazardous to one's health, and no one gets out alive. For this one, the article fails to mention a couple of key points...

• 1: You can get tested for HPV, just like any other virus. They don't normally include it in an STD screening but you can ask for it. I do, every time. Guess what? I (the resident Ethical Slut) don't have HPV.
• 2: As others have stated, the strain that causes cancer is pretty damn rare, and even then it doesn't "cause" cancer, merely increases the risk. And since people can get cancer anyway, I fail to see how this should change anyone's mind about oral sex one way or the other except to get tested more often.

Scare tactics. Fuck 'em.

Depending on how easily it transmits and how many partners you have, 3.5% can potentially be really significant. I mean if you're the type to go to a frat party every other weekend and blow 10+ people apiece (I'm sure it's happened -_-)...

I can't say I'm surprised... any type of sex in which bodily fluid is exchanged has the potential for disease. I think it's kind of wierd that oral sex is considered a 'safer' option.

@Pykrete: Yeah, but lets look at the other numbers too.

3.5% of people have it. Of the people that get it 90% of it is gone within two years. The remaining 10% wind up as infections, and 5% of those turn into treatable precancerous lesions.

I'm bad at math here, so exactly what is the risk? It doesn't really look like much to me.

ITT: Studies showing risks from promiscuity raise skepticism.

So tempted to find a study claiming promiscuity is healthy, for reaction comparison...

Depends on how many people that 3.5% have sexual contact with and how readily it infects. Thing about transmissible diseases is that overall statistics don't really reflect a local outbreak.

Also, 5% of 3.5% is still almost 1:500 people that end up with said lesion.

Is it 5% of the 3.5%? Or is it 10% of the 3.5%, then 5% of that?

I don't think it was entirely clear on that, really.

Hooray for sensationalism in the media, amirite?

That may or may not be sensationalism depending on which they meant. What it is is poor wording.

ITT: Studies showing risks from promiscuity raise skepticism.

So tempted to find a study claiming promiscuity is healthy, for reaction comparison...

Well, Rotty, it doesn't seem so much to be scepticism as a statement of "Well, duh".

I have no problem believing this story, that oral sex could lead to higher rates of throat cancer due to viruses such as HPV. S'why the vaccine for that needs to be more widely applied.