A doctor has explained what the link is between oral sex and throat cancer after a dad received a shock diagnosis.
Frank Lane, 60, assumed the lump in his throat was from being run down, but was stunned to discover that it was throat cancer, caused by oral sex.
The Hampshire resident said his biopsy results in 2023 showed that he may have picked up the human papillomavirus (HPV) virus 40 years ago, around the time he joined the army, and that it can cause throat cancer.
Thankfully, the dad-of-two has now been given the all-clear after undergoing two rounds of chemo and radiation therapy last year.
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"The consultant said because of the shape of the virus inside my biopsy they ascertain it's from about 40 years ago," he said.
"I was sexually active around the age of 20. I was having fun, but I wasn't messing about with loads of different girls.
"When I got told, I was thinking 'f**k that, I'm never doing it again'.
"To be honest it could be Kylie Minogue or Demi Moore, and if they were like 'Hey Frank, come on' I'd be like 'nah, you're alright'."
What is HPV?
Dr Hisham Mehanna explained in his column for The Conversation that there has been a rise in throat cancer cases, specifically 'oropharyngeal cancer (the area of the tonsils and back of the throat)'.
The Professor of Head and Neck Surgery at the University of Birmingham wrote that HPV is the main cause of cancer of the cervix and is 'sexually transmitted'.
The link between HPV and throat cancer
"For oropharyngeal cancer, the main risk factor is the number of lifetime sexual partners, especially oral sex," Dr Mehanna said.
"Those with six or more lifetime oral-sex partners are 8.5 times more likely to develop oropharyngeal cancer than those who do not practice oral sex."
He also noted that in one study, "80 per cent of adults reported practicing oral sex at some point in their lives," but "only a small number of those people develop oropharyngeal cancer."
"The prevailing theory is that most of us catch HPV infections and are able to clear them completely," the health expert added.
"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.
"In those patients, the virus is able to replicate continuously, and over time, integrates at random positions into the host’s DNA, some of which can cause the host cells to become cancerous."
Anish Vij