About 18,000 Americans are diagnosed with a new case of oropharyngeal cancer each year, with a UK head, neck and thyroid surgeon pointing the finger at oral sex.
Oropharyngeal cancer is a type of head and neck cancer that tends to affect people between the ages of 50 and 80, but is becoming more prevalent in younger generations because it is linked to the human papillomavirus (HPV).
“HPV is sexually transmitted. For oropharyngeal cancer, the main risk factor is the number of lifetime sex partners, especially oral sex,” Dr Hisham Mehanna, a professor at the University of Birmingham in the United Kingdom, wrote on Monday on research site The Conversation.
“Those who have 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,” added Mehanna.
Cancer affects the middle part of the throat, behind the mouth. This area includes the soft palate, tonsils, back of the tongue, and the sides and back of the throat.
Symptoms include a sore throat that does not go away, difficulty swallowing, inability to open the mouth fully, problems moving the tongue, unexplained weight loss, ear pain, a lump in the back of the mouth, throat or neck, a continuous white. spotting on the tongue or lining of the mouth and a cough that produces blood.
Radiation therapy, chemotherapy, a combination of the two treatments, or surgery to remove the tumor are common approaches to oropharyngeal cancer.
Oropharyngeal cancer caused by HPV tends to have a better prognosis than cases associated with excessive smoking or drinking. About 70% of patients will survive their cancer five years or longer after diagnosis.
There are more than 200 types of HPV, and some can cause genital warts or cervical cancer — more than 42 million Americans have a form known to cause disease.
HPV is the most common sexually transmitted infection in the US, with at least 13 million new infections recorded each year.
“The prevailing theory is that most of us get HPV infections and are able to clear them completely. However, a small number of people are unable to clear the infection, possibly due to a defect in a particular aspect of their immune system,” Mehanna explained.
“In those patients, the virus is able to replicate continuously, and over time it integrates at random positions in the host’s DNA, some of which can cause host cells to become cancerous,” he continued.
Mehanna endorses the vaccination for both girls and boys, with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention suggesting starting at age 11 or 12 or at age 9.
Catch-up shots are recommended up to age 27 for those who didn’t get them when they were younger.
Mehanna acknowledges that this may be an unpopular opinion: “There are significant portions of some populations that are against HPV vaccination because of concerns about safety, necessity, or, less commonly, because of concerns about encouraging promiscuity.”
He added: “As always when dealing with populations and behaviour, nothing is simple or straightforward.”
The New York Department of Health assures that vaccines are “a safe and effective way to protect against the serious health problems that HPV can cause.”
About 61% of American teens were up to date with the series as of last year, and about 77% of teens had received at least one dose.
KFF reported that state rates range from 39% of youth in Mississippi who are up-to-date to 85% in Rhode Island.
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