Oral sex and cancer

Can oral sex cause cancer?

Ever since it was reported that Michael Douglas developed oral cavity cancer, a lot has been published on how this can occur. The first thing to know is that oral sex is part of a healthy sexual relationship. Oral sex is enjoyed by millions and in fact many people prefer it to sexual intercourse. So can you get cancer from oral sex? Sure, but it is not the oral sex that is the problem, it is the human papilloma virus. This darn virus can easily be transmitted from person to person during oral sex. There are some cancers of the oral cavity that are most likely induced by this virus, but why some people develop cancer and others do not, remains a mystery. What people should know is that HPV alone is not a cause of oral cavity cancer. People who smoke are also at high risk for the cancer. One may not have oral sex, but if you smoke, you still can develop oral cavity cancer. Millions of people have oral sex on a regular basis but the incidence of oral cavity cancer is not high in North America. It appears that other factors like smoking and alcohol may also be contributing factors