Having more sex partners reduces the chance of oral cancer for women. Unfortunately, men are more likely to become infected as the number of oral sex partners increases.
A study suggests that women who have more vaginal sex partners appear to have a lower risk of oral human papillomavirus (HPV) infections. The information was released during the annual conference of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
Throat and mouth cancer are linked to HPV, which is one of the most prevalent sexually transmitted diseases. HPV is rather common, as most people are treated of the virus within two years.
According to the study published by the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), oral sex may increase the risk of head and neck cancer by 22 percent. In the last 20 years, the number of oral cancer patients has risen to 225 percent.
Oral cancer is typically linked to lifestyle causes such as heavy drinking and smoking, according to Mirror. Two in three sufferers of oral cancer were men, which made experts question the imbalance.
HPV is the same cancer that causes cervical cancer in women. Research states that because women are first exposed to HPV vaginally, they may develop an immune response that prevents them from getting the infection.
Unfortunately, research suggests that this may not be the same for men as they are found twice more likely to develop oral cancer. As the number of oral sex partners increase, the risk of oral HPV infections also increases.
It is believed that oral sex may be the main cause at which the HPV ends up in the mouth. "Our research shows that once you become infected, men are less likely to clear this infection than women, further contributing for the cancer risk," according to Gypsyamber D'Souza, a professor at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore.
While HPV is very common and easily treatable, HPV may not go away in some cases particularly with men. In some rare instances, the virus can lead to cellular changes in the mouth and throat, which can lead to cancer.
Middle-aged white men are particularly at high risk compared to other races, according to Daily Mail. The US Centers for Diseases Control and Prevention (CDC) has highly recommended all pre-teenagers to take the HPV vaccination before they become sexually active.
