Oral sex is now one of the main causes of throat cancer

A scientist has revealed that oral sex is one of the main causes of throat cancer.

The professor has collected research over the past two decades and has found a steep increase in throat cancer in the western world, which has been so rapid that some researchers are going as far as to call it an 'epidemic'.

Much of this is due to one particular type of throat cancer, which is located in the area of the tonsils in the back of the throat.

The cancer in question has been identified as oropharyngeal cancer, with the main cause for the fast rise of cases being due to the human papillomavirus (HPV).

HPV, which is sexually transmitted, is also the predominant cause of cancer of the cervix, which is the lower, narrow end of the uterus that forms a canal between the uterus and vagina.

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Hisham Mehanna, Professor at the Institute of Cancer and Genomic Sciences for the University of Birmingham, has stated that oropharyngeal cancer is now more common than cervical cancer in both the US and UK.

Mehanna explains: "For oropharyngeal cancer, the main risk factor is the number of lifetime sexual partners, especially oral sex.

"Those with six or more lifetime oral-sex partners are 8.5 times more likely to develop oropharyngeal cancer than those who do not practise oral sex."

In a study conducted by the professor and his team, they found that '80 per cent of adults reported practising oral sex at some point in their lives' in the UK.

"Yet, mercifully," he assures, "only a small number of those people develop oropharyngeal cancer."

The team of researchers have not yet found why this is the case.

Mehanna reports that the 'prevailing theory' is that many people catch HPV infections and can clear them entirely.

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"However, a small number of people are not able to get rid of the infection, maybe due to a defect in a particular aspect of their immune system," he warns.

For those particular patients, HPV begins to 'replicate continuously' and over a period of time the virus begins to integrate into the host's DNA.

The expert explains that this is what causes the host cells to 'become cancerous'.

The new research has pushed many countries, including Australia, along with the United Kingdom and the United States, to roll out a 'gender-neutral vaccination policy'.

This means that such countries will 'extend their national recommendations for HPV vaccination to include young boys' as well as girls.