Oral Sex Again in the Hot Seat For Possibly Giving You Mouth Cancer

There are two camps of people, it seems, by and large, when it comes to oral sex- one that vocally demonstrates their love for and technique regarding oral sex and the other, largely silent and perhaps populated by abstainers.

In and of itself, oral sex is a controversial act, mainly because it can range so vastly from “not getting it” to partner or recipient reluctance to “oh my God, it’s better than going on a waterslide!” and thusly, going downtown is fraught with emotion and intrigue. Also, it’s possibly fraught with cancer.

This is not news. I seem to recall news of an oral sex and cancer link back when we all accessed the interwebs via AOL and the main news stories of the day popped up after “You’ve Got Mail!” But it seems at least once a year, this story rears its ugly head, ensuring your next blow job will be not only hard on your knees, but it will also stress you out to all get out when you remember the existence of this research. You’re welcome.

Medical oncologist at Georgetown’s Lombardi Cancer Center Dr. John Deeken spoke with The Atlantic about the findings, and indicates that while the data indicates something, it’s a bit tricky to discern exactly what:

“Like investigators elsewhere, we’re seeing an increased incidence of oropharyngeal cancer… This may be why we’re seeing the virus in tumors in those parts of the oropharynx, while the incidence of lip, larynx, and vocal cord cancers is not going up… The epidemiology is perplexing. The assumption, when we noticed the trend eight or nine years ago, was that this was a sexually transmitted disease due to more oral sex.”

Deeken continues:

“But at least at Georgetown, we have patients in their 80s with this kind of cancer. That raises questions about the sexual habits of Americans who are older, or about HPV.”

Researchers indicate that while research is ongoing, vaccination for HPV is the best way to prevent oral cancers that may stem from oral sex.

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