There is "strong evidence" linking oral sex to oral cancer, according to researchers speaking February 20 at the American Association for the Advancement of Science meeting in Washington, DC.
Researchers have found a 225% increase in oral cancer cases in the U.S. from 1974 to 2007, mainly among white men, said Maura Gillison, MD, PhD, a professor of hematology and oncology at Ohio State University, according to a story by the Agence France-Presse (AFP) news agency.
While tobacco was the prime cause of oral cancer in the past, recent studies have attributed the steady increase of the disease to the human papillomavirus (HPV). Until 2000, scientists were unsure if HPV caused oral cancer, but research released in 2000 revealed it as a distinct etiology for the disease, and more recent studies have supported this finding.
"When you compare people who have an oral infection or not ... the single greatest factor is the number of partners on whom the person has performed oral sex," Gillison said. "When the number of partners increases, the risk increases."
In addition, she noted, the rise in oral cancer in the U.S. is predominantly among young white males, "and we do not know why."
Researcher Diane Harper, MD, MPH, MS, of the University of Missouri-Kansas City said the oral cancer field may move more quickly by using technology already developed for detecting HPV in cervical cancer patients.
