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TagsNEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM
Can Men Get Oral Cancer from Oral Sex? Sex Research Labs Provides The Answer for Men Who Love Giving Oral Sex But Who Don’t Want To Get Mouth Cancer or Throat Cancer
Michael Douglas told the media that his recent throat cancer was caused by oral sex.Can you, a man, get cancer from giving oral sex to a woman?
And can you take precautions that will prevent you from getting cancer?
We asked Sex Research Labs to give us their opinion. The organization helps improves men’s sex lives and they agreed to look at the science behind Mr. Douglas’ claim.
Executive Director Matt Cook said, “First of all, Mr. Douglas is very unusual, because less than 20% of men in his age range report giving oral sex. So he is to be commended for giving and not just getting.”
Regardless of the situation, Cook said, many men love to give a woman oral sex. “In a national sex survey, one third to one half of men reported giving oral sex to a woman in the recent past. Curiously, as men get older, they give oral sex less. Oral sex peaks in frequency when a man hits around 40. Of course, older guys grew up in a less sexually permissive time, and oral sex wasn’t as common.”
Mr. Cook explained the findings of Sex Research Labs with regard to oral sex leading to cancer.
The facts as we know them are that for women many genital cancers region are associated with HPV, a family of viruses.
Moving to the mouth and throat, doctors do test and often find evidence of HPV in about 25% of cancers.
But does HPV cause mouth and throat cancer? And can a man give a woman oral sex, and pick up HPV from an infected woman?
Nobody really knows.
One study showed that men who never had oral sex had a higher chance of getting oral cancer than average.
And a number of studies have shown that as men have more than say four sex partners their chance of getting oral cancer increases.
It is possible that HPV can be one of the contributors to cancer but not a cause.
Mr. Douglas has in the past been a heavy smoker. Perhaps smoking increases the chances that HPV will gain a foothold of some kind in the mouth or throat. Or maybe HPV comes later, after cancer has already begun, and infects cancer cells in some way.
So some oral cancer seems linked to HPV, but it seems that Mr. Douglas was far too sure of himself when he told the media he had contracted his cancer from giving oral sex.
Nobody can prove that or know that.
So to summarize, it does seem possible that you can get HPV infections from oral sex. HPV infections are linked with some oral cancer, though not most of it. And nobody has yet established that HPV infections definitely cause oral cancer.
Now, how does a man prevent himself from getting oral cancer if he enjoys giving oral sex to a woman?
Most men are turned on by vaginal odor and taste, if the woman has a healthy vagina.
And a recent study showed men will give a woman more oral sex if they feel the woman may be prone to cheating on them.
So many men love giving oral sex. Can men who love oral sex lower the risk of getting oral cancer?
Here are some pointers from Sex Research Labs Matt Cook on avoiding cancer from oral sex:
Obviously if a woman is infected, the man should wear a condom during penile vaginal intercourse and should not give her oral sex.
Vaginal odor is a terrific source of excitement and a way for men to raise their sexual arousal. So if a man wants the benefits of getting sexually excited and less inhibited, he can sniff a partner’s vagina and not actually lick it or touch it. Well, easier said than done!
There are 34,000 newly diagnosed cases of oral cancer per year, out of a population of over 300,000,000 people. The odds of getting it are already roughly 1 in 10,000.
Heavy alcohol use and heavy smoking seem related to oral cancers. If you don’t drink too much or smoke, you probably have a far lower chance of getting oral cancer.
Oral cancer is far higher in men who have gum disease. If a man has healthy teeth and gums, the risks are far lower.
So if you want to give oral sex and don’t want cancer, don’t drink too much, don’t smoke, take care of your teeth, and cunnilingus with women infected with HPV.
And don’t worry about it, guys: You are more likely to get run over by a car than to get cancer from giving oral sex.
*** *** ***
Source: SexResearchLabs.org, Matt Cook, Executive Director
Citations:
Infectious and dietary risk factors of oral cancer, Jukka H. Meurman, Oral Oncology, Volume 46, Issue 6, June 2010, Pages 411–413
Sexual behaviours and the risk of head and neck cancers: a pooled analysis in the International Head and Neck Cancer Epidemiology (INHANCE) consortium, Julia E Heck et al, International Journal of Epidemiology, Volume 39, Issue 1, Pp. 166-181.
Oral Cancer Risk in Relation to Sexual History and Evidence of Human Papillomavirus Infection, Stephen M. Schwartz, Janet R. Daling and Margaret M. Madeleine, Journal of the National Cancer Institute, Volume 90, Issue 21, Pp. 1626-1636.
Human Papillomaviruses, Herpes Simplex Viruses, and the Risk of Oral Cancer in Men, Christopher Maden, Anna Marie Beckmann, David B. Thomas , American Journal of Epidemiology, Volume 135, Issue 10, Pp. 1093-1102.
Sexual Behavior in the United States: Results from a National
Probability Sample of Men and Women Ages 14–94, Debby Herbenick, PhD, MPH,* Michael Reece, PhD, MPH, Journal of Sex Medicine 2010;7(suppl 5):253–254
