Great Britain
Oral sex is the greatest risk of oropharyngeal cancer, according to at least one British researcher. What exactly is behind it?
In the US and UK, over the past two decades, an increasing number of people have been diagnosed with a type of throat cancer called laryngeal cancer oropharyngeal cancer (oropharyngeal carcinoma). This comes from statistics of the “American Cancer Society” and the “Oral Health Foundaktion“. A British researcher once again points to the main cause of the disease: oral sex.
Rapid rise in oropharyngeal cancer in US and UK
Hisham Mehanna, a professor at the University of Birmingham’s Institute of Cancer and Genomic Sciences, warns in an article published in the scientific journal “The Conversation” before the rapid rise of oropharyngeal cancer. The number of diseases has increased so much in the last two decades that “some are already talking about an epidemic” in research circles.
According to statistics from the American Cancer Society, cases of HPV-related oropharyngeal cancer increased annually by 1.3 percent in women and 2.8 percent in men from 2015 to 2019. Also in the UK, cancer of the mouth and throat has a report by the “Oral Heath FoundationAccording to Mehanna, the number of cases has more than doubled over the past twenty years. According to Mehanna, oral sex is the main cause.
“The main risk factor for oropharyngeal cancer is the number of sexual partners over the course of a lifetime, particularly for oral sex,” the professor said do not practice oral sex.”
The American “Centers for Disease Control and Prevention” estimated that 70 percent of oropharyngeal cancers – affecting the tonsils, base of the tongue and back of the throat – in the US are caused by a HPV infection caused. Also read: Biontech is testing cancer vaccines in the UK
Human pappilomavirus (HPV): transmission and spread
According to the Robert Koch Institute, HPV viruses (human papilloma viruses) are among the most common sexually transmitted infections. Most sexually active people would date one at least once in their lifetime HPV-Virus infect. Over 200 different HPV virus types are known to date.
Some of these types lead to harmless genital warts, other HPV types are instrumental in the development of cervical cancer and other types of cancer, for example in the vagina, anus, penis – and in the mouth and throat area. In many people, the virus also clears up on its own without complications.
“Since HPV infections in Germany (as well as in almost all other countries) are not notifiable, no routine data on the HPV disease burden are collected,” says the website of the RKI. Also read: Test allows better control of cervical cancer
earlier studies have shown that multiple sexual partners, that is, more than four to seven, can increase the risk of having HPV to infect One US-2021 study found that people who had ten or more oral sex partners were four times more likely to develop HPV-related oropharyngeal cancer.
HPV-related cancers in Germany
From the data of Center for Cancer Registry Data shows that every year about 6250 women and about 1600 men contract HPV-related carcinomas in the area of the uterus, vagina, vulva or penis as well as in the area of the anus and oropharynx.
In men, at least 750 carcinomas in the oral cavity or pharynx occur as new cases each year due to HPV. The ZfKD does not have any data on how many women develop HPV-related oropharyngeal cancer each year. The figures also do not indicate an increase in the number of diseases in the last two decades.
Vaccinations against HPV viruses
The Standing Vaccination Commission (STIKO) recommends since 2007 for girls and since June 2018 also for boys vaccination against HPV aged 9-14 years. HPV vaccines protect almost 100 percent against infection with HPV types contained in the vaccines.
More articles from this category can be found here: Life
