According to Dr. Hisham Mehanna, a professor at the Institute of Cancer and Genomic Sciences at the University of Birmingham, there has been a significant rise in oropharyngeal cancer, a type of throat cancer, in the United States and the United Kingdom, which he called an “epidemic.” Oral sex may be the primary factor behind this trend.
Dr. Mehanna noted in his article on The Conversation, “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.”
The American Cancer Society has reported a yearly increase of 1.3% in women and 2.8% in men of oropharyngeal cancer, a form of throat cancer that is linked to HPV, from 2015 to 2019. In the United States, the CDC estimates that 70% of oropharyngeal cancers, which impact the tonsils, base of the tongue, and back of the throat, are caused by HPV infection.