Oral sex is driving a rise in throat cancer, now more common than cervical cancer in the UK and US, experts say. Dr. Hisham Mehanna of the University of Birmingham links this trend to oropharyngeal cancer caused by human papillomavirus (HPV).
HPV, a group of over 100 viruses, is typically harmless but can cause genital warts or cancer. Mehanna notes that having six or more lifetime oral sex partners increases the risk of oropharyngeal cancer by 8.5 times. While most people clear HPV naturally, a small minority cannot, allowing the virus to integrate into DNA and trigger cancer.
Although 80% of UK adults have engaged in oral sex, only a small number develop throat cancer, which affects around 8,300 people annually in the UK, mostly over age 55. Mehanna emphasizes that most HPV infections do not lead to cancer.
