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Combination of oral sex, smoking, drinking can lead to mouth cancer
By Catherine Basham
Posted: 9/12/07, 10:20 PM EST Section: News
Your mother always said to be careful about what you put in your mouth. Now she has a new reason why.
When transmitted during oral sex, human papillomavirus (HPV) - the sexually transmitted infection commonly associated with cervical cancer in women - can lead to oral cancers, according to a study published in The New England Journal of Medicine.
Previously, oral cancers were most closely associated with tobacco or alcohol use. But in recent years, there has been an increase in the rates of oral cancer, especially among younger people who are not heavy smokers or drinkers.
"Oral sex is sex. Like other sexual acts, you want to protect yourself in a similar way that you would protect yourself from other sexually transmitted diseases," said Dr. Gypsyamber D'Souza, senior author of the study and assistant scientist at Johns Hopkins University.
But out of a handful of Syracuse University students, oral sex is still widely considered to be a safer alternative to vaginal sex.
Christine Fitzsimons, a freshman in The College of Arts and Sciences, said today's culture portrays oral sex as more commonplace, and young people are likely to think of it that way, too.
"I think it's becoming less and less of a taboo thing and a lot more socially acceptable," she said.
Though the study found that most adults with throat cancer contracted it during oral sex, it allows for the possibility that the virus was exchanged during kissing. But those who have many sex partners are probably kissing a lot of people as well, so it's hard to separate out which behaviors may cause the virus, D'Souza said.
"But because oral sex is so widespread and common now, and people are having so many partners, it suggests that in the future, the problem might become even larger," she said.
The study sample included 100 adults with throat cancer and 200 without it. Those with HPV were 32 times more likely to develop a form of oral cancer than those without the virus.
When transmitted during oral sex, human papillomavirus (HPV) - the sexually transmitted infection commonly associated with cervical cancer in women - can lead to oral cancers, according to a study published in The New England Journal of Medicine.
Previously, oral cancers were most closely associated with tobacco or alcohol use. But in recent years, there has been an increase in the rates of oral cancer, especially among younger people who are not heavy smokers or drinkers.
"Oral sex is sex. Like other sexual acts, you want to protect yourself in a similar way that you would protect yourself from other sexually transmitted diseases," said Dr. Gypsyamber D'Souza, senior author of the study and assistant scientist at Johns Hopkins University.
But out of a handful of Syracuse University students, oral sex is still widely considered to be a safer alternative to vaginal sex.
Christine Fitzsimons, a freshman in The College of Arts and Sciences, said today's culture portrays oral sex as more commonplace, and young people are likely to think of it that way, too.
"I think it's becoming less and less of a taboo thing and a lot more socially acceptable," she said.
Though the study found that most adults with throat cancer contracted it during oral sex, it allows for the possibility that the virus was exchanged during kissing. But those who have many sex partners are probably kissing a lot of people as well, so it's hard to separate out which behaviors may cause the virus, D'Souza said.
"But because oral sex is so widespread and common now, and people are having so many partners, it suggests that in the future, the problem might become even larger," she said.
The study sample included 100 adults with throat cancer and 200 without it. Those with HPV were 32 times more likely to develop a form of oral cancer than those without the virus.
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