Since the beginning of the twenty-first century, there has been a sharp rise in cases of throat cancer in the West. The increase in throat cancer incidence is so significant that specialists have recently referred to it as “an epidemic”.
Even medical professionals have expressed concern over the sharp increase of oropharyngeal cancer, a kind of throat cancer that affects the tonsils and back of the throat. The sexually transmitted human papillomavirus (HPV) is a primary contributor to this type of cancer. According to Professor Hisham Mehanna at the Institute of Cancer and Genomic Sciences at the University of Birmingham, people who have several sexual partners and engage in oral sex continue to be at risk of developing this particular type of throat cancer over the course of their lives.
Oropharyngeal cancer is currently more prevalent than cervical cancer in the US
A case-control study of HPV and oropharyngeal cancer found that those who have had six or more oral sex partners over the course of their lifetime have an 8.5-fold increased risk of the disease compared to people who have never engaged in oral sex.
In the United States and the United Kingdom, oropharyngeal cancer is currently more prevalent than cervical cancer.
Professor Mehanna referenced research he and his associates at the University of Birmingham carried out. According to the report, oral sex is quite common in several nations. In the UK, 80% of adults who underwent tonsillectomy surgery for reasons unrelated to cancer disclosed engaging in oral sex at some point in their lives.
In order to avoid cervical cancer, a number of countries have begun immunizing young girls against HPV, according to a piece by Professor Hisham Mehanna published in The Conversation. Boys are immune to the human papillomavirus (HPV) in nations where vaccination coverage for females is up to 85% due to herd immunity.
