Headline of the Week Weak
"Oral sex blamed for throat cancer rise"
Say it ain't so!!! CLICK HERE to read the article accompanying this headline.
Oral sex blamed for throat cancer rise
For five gruelling months in 2006 and 2007, Carol Kanga suffered through treatment for a life-threatening case of throat cancer linked to an unlikely source: a sexually transmitted viral infection.
Unable to swallow food or water during chemotherapy and radiation treatment, Kanga was fed through a stomach tube. Her one respite came on Thanksgiving, when she savoured a single spoonful of weak broth.
"The radiation basically burns the skin off the outside and inside of your throat," said Kanga, 52. "It's like there's a fire inside your neck."
Kanga's treatment was successful, but the virus that struck her is causing increasing concern among some researchers who think it is causing a small-scale epidemic of throat cancer.
That virus, scientists have proved only in the last two years, is human papillomavirus, or HPV - the same virus that's behind most cases of cervical cancer.
With 6,000 cases per year and an annual increase of up to 10 per cent in men younger than 60, some researchers say the HPV-linked throat cancers could overtake cervical cancer in the next decade.
"It's almost a new disease, in a sense," said Dr Ezra Cohen, an oncologist at the University of Chicago Medical Centre. "It's now becoming a dominant sub-type of the disease that we see in our clinic."
The HPV infections likely took root decades ago as the Baby Boomers were reaching adulthood, and only now are spurring a rise in throat cancer cases, mostly among men and women in their 50s.
No one understands the precise reason for the increase, though experts suspect it's linked to changes in sexual practices that emerged in the 1960s and '70s. For example, oral sex is a known risk factor for HPV-related throat cancers, and studies have shown that people who have come of age since the 1950s are more likely to have engaged in oral sex than those who were born earlier.
"Those people were in their teens during the sexual revolution, so they may be leading the wave," said Dr Maura Gillison, a professor of oncology and epidemiology at the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Centre who has published numerous studies indicating that HPV-related throat cancer is a distinct type of disease.
The virus targets a specific portion of the upper throat called the oropharynx, which includes the tonsils and base of the tongue. Just a decade ago, doctors believed nearly all such cancers were linked with smoking or extremely heavy drinking.
Last year, however, Gillison's team published a major study that found stark differences between the risky behaviours of throat cancer patients with HPV and those without. The HPV-positive cancer patients tended to have had higher numbers of sex partners than the others and were far more likely to have had multiple oral-sex partners.
The virus-linked cancer appears somewhat less deadly than throat cancers that arise from smoking or drinking. A paper published this year found that 96 per cent of HPV-positive patients survived at least two years after diagnosis, compared with 62 per cent survival for HPV-negative cancers.
"They have a better prognosis, but these are still very aggressive cancers," said Dr Marshall Posner, medical director of head and neck oncology at the Dana-Farber/Harvard Cancer Centre in Boston.
While doctors had hoped for an overall drop in throat cancer as the percentage of Americans who smoke declined, the rise of HPV-related throat cancers seems to be offsetting any such benefit.
Gillison's group tested hundreds of head and neck tumours that doctors began saving in the early 1970s, long before anyone knew such cancers might be linked to HPV. The work showed that the number of HPV-positive tumours increased by about 1 per cent a year on average, though the trend has quickened in the last decade, especially in men younger than 60.
The virus thrives in the outer layer of skin and is transmitted mostly by skin-to-skin contact, researchers think. Sexual transmission tends to cause infection near the site of contact; intercourse is linked with cervical cancer, while oral sex can cause cancer of the upper throat.
Recent increases in HPV-positive throat cancers could be an aftershock of changes in sexual behaviour that began decades ago. A landmark 1994 study of sexual behaviour showed that oral sex had become commonplace only in the generations born in the 1950s or later. Fewer than 60 per cent of people born in the 1930s were found to have had oral sex, compared with more than 80 per cent of people born since 1950.
"The older people simply did not do it as much," said Edward Laumann, a University of Chicago professor of sociology who led the National Health and Social Life Survey.
"It's a very complicated social story that nobody's really worked out in detail," he said.
Other causes may have contributed to the spread of HPV cancers, including the increased movement of people around the country and the world in the last half-century, experts said. Scientists aren't even sure yet whether the virus might be spread by kissing, though data suggest oral sex is a major route of transmission.
One implication of the cancer trend is that oral sex does not constitute "safe sex," Kanga said.
"We can't be afraid to talk about this," Kanga said. "The message that oral sex carries risks is just not out there."
Conservative groups say the emergence of HPV-related throat cancer is an additional argument for abstaining from sex until marriage.
But many researchers focus on expanded use of the HPV vaccine, which since 2006 has been recommended for girls ages 11 to 12. Just as the vaccine lessens the risk of cervical cancer for those girls, it may offer protection from HPV-positive throat cancer, though studies have not yet addressed that question.
Vaccine maker Merck & Co hopes to submit an application this year to the US Food and Drug Administration for use of its HPV vaccine in males. Although the company's studies will not show specifically whether the vaccine protects against throat cancer, they should reveal whether the shots prevent infection with HPV.
"We expect the vaccine to work just as well in male and female populations," said Dr Richard Haupt, director of Merck's clinical program for the vaccine, Gardasil, which was developed using technology pioneered in Australia.
How do you make Victory Hair?
i'll kill my fucking husband if I get cancer
Re: SEE – damn right!! and that is a sad sad fact.
that bitch shouldn't have went down on him.
its her fault. thats what u get when you…ew….
STAY SAFE PEREZ! lol
ok so im so confused? if shes 52 then who the helll is that in that picture?? hah
Re: lily – Yeah, because it was totally okay and stds were never spread when women were made to feel repressed and men were allowed to be promiscuous.
/sarcasm
I'm not saying that people aren't sleeping around too much these days, but it's not the women who are solely to blame.
Oh great, just take all the fucking enjoyment out of life while we're at it!
Re: CinnamonSpice_ATL –
Re: CinnamonSpice_ATL –
We see your mistake!
This is really, really old news. Articles came out about this over a year ago.
her name is amber marshall. she's been convicted of sexual abuse in indiana. she was a teacher or a teacher's aide in a special education class and had "contact" (ugh. euphemism!) with three of her students, with oral sex being an issue.
So. Jizz has Cancer Cooties?
Holy fuck, another good sex thing goes down the tube, literally. When are manufacturers going to make a good-tasting condom or dental dam to use during oral sex? I've tried a few and the taste of the condom is awful, even with flavoured lube. Damn, this takes all the fun out of sex, and forget about "waiting until marriage" as guess what, not all of us wanna get married purely to have sex. Fucking Conservatives, keep your religious policies out of the bedroom. Fuck, there goes my plans for this weekend. Was gonna spend it with a cock in my mouth and now I'm scared as maybe that cock will be the one to give me oral HPV. That HPV vaccine hasn't been proved against oral HPV, just the vaginal one, and not all of the strains so don't be jumping on that HPV vaccine bandwagon yet. Condom use is still the best prevention, but damned if it tastes bloody awful.
this fucking absolutely sucks! before i got on this website, i was perfectly happy. i sucked cock all night long and now my throat is starting to hurt. fuck off perez! ignorance is bliss.
HAHAHAHA….have Amber Marshall on there!! Funny Perez!!
For those who have no idea who she is, she's a 23 y.o convicted pedo that was a teacher's aide. I don't know if anyone knew or not…but I remember reading about her in the news. Nasty fat bitch!
But it's sad though. Everyone needs to be safe in whatever they do when they begin to or have sex!!! Be smart about your choices, don't make dumb ones that you'd regret later!!!
Re: Kim – I feel you on this…I recently was told by my obgyn that I had the virus for hpv…totally took me by surprise, as I've never had an abnormal pap or anything, but I was checked for pre-cancerous cells and nothing is too out of the ordinary…yet…
It is so common, though, people….you should all get tested because it can turn into something far worse.
i thought oral sex ended after 25….
I think the title of this article is really wrong. My father had this cancer and had an extremely harrowing chemo and radiation. It's serious and not a joke and definitely not from "oral sex". HPV is a very prevalent STD caused by many different forms of intercourse and I wish this wasn't picking fun at it. Imagine watching your father go through something this horrible. A little compassion for a disease that is very serious. I've never written a comment but this made me angry enough to sign up and show my disappointment.
Why is that picture up??
Please let this me a lie!!!!
Re: Starf – Lol! "Condoms come in a variety of fun flavors!" I should know. I was in Growth and Development when I asked, "Why do condoms come in different flavors?" And my teacher was all, "WTF?" And then I'm all, "Yea, this one is BANANA FLAVORED!" So anyways, I have a new excuse to stay a virgin all my life. ._.
all these people cheering because this is an excuse to not blow anymore. did y'all know you don't have to do anything you don't want to to start with? gosh.
I'm a girl in my 20's and I have to say - its pretty frustrating these days, how many people are so promiscuous. Didn't I just see an article on here the other day saying that 1 in 4 New Yorkers has an STD? That is SICK! If everyone would quit being so slutty maybe there wouldn't be such a need for all of these vaccines. I'm not an old granny, or a sunday school teacher - and I still think it's sad that sex and sexual acts are looked at these days as nothing more than entertainment. What happened to at least saving sex for people that you care about? Instead of going out with someone a couple of times and screwing before you even know their last name.
Holy shit! Im scurred! lol
fffffffffffffuuuuuuuuuuuuuccccccckkkkkkk yyyyyyyyyyyyooooooooooooouuuuu
Wow, that woman looks pretty good for 52 years old. I thought it was a fat teenager or 20-something.
Approximately 20 million Americans are currently infected with HPV, and another 6.2 million people become newly infected each year. At least 50% of sexually active men and women acquire genital HPV infection at some point in their lives.
You cannot see HPV. Most people with HPV do not develop symptoms or health problems. Most people who become infected with HPV do not even know they have it. Very rarely, a pregnant woman with genital HPV can pass HPV to her baby during vaginal delivery.
Yeah…. WE already knew for a long time oral can cause cancer
Thank you Perez, This is not a fake… There are more than 100HPV, low , medium and highly cancerous, as it is a virus is in your blood and affects various parts of your body,You can have throat cancer without having had oral sex. The HPV affects throat and cervix, I have 5 of this viruses and I didnt participate in orgies or anything like that!!!!!! I had a very normal sexual life , unfortunatly there is no test to check if men have HPV, that would save many lives….. Also remenber that in woman it afeccts cervix and throat and in men it affects the pennis. Get yourselves checked and vaccinated, I do it every 3 moths, we are waiting for
WOW
Re: sonny –
DITO
The managers of GSK and Merck & Co a totally happy now - they'll sell even more useless, dangereous vaccines to naive, uninformed people….
thats why you wait until your in a long term relationship before you suck his peen! get him tested, go to the doctors together and both get tested, on a regular basis, its not stupid, its important as you can see, and doing it together is what you have to do! its not the woman or the mans fault its societys! If your both clean go at it until the cows come home! not having to worry is the fun part of sex. Thats why i dont need to pay 100 (in canada) for this vacc, im in a good relationship im not an idiot slut, im 19, ive only had sex with ONE man, i dont plan on fucking anyone else, i know shocker, I would never touch anybody until i knew for sure if they were clean or not! dont have sex until your in love, you dont need to be married thats bs, just be able to fully trust the other person and NONE of this sad cancer shit would happen, your only hurting yourself by being a whore, the world is killing itself this way and its really sad to sit back and watch it happen. oh yah and take your damn birth control, we dont need any more minisluts running around.
oooopppps…. cant do anything these days.
not letting someone cum in your mouth wont protect you……skin to skin contact thats all it takes to get hpv so if you suck sumones dick who has HPV the infection will be in your throat regardless if you swallow or not
Re: lynda –
Maybe you shouldnt be such a whore and stop being suck a cocksucker. But hey, at least now we can tell who the whores are with ease.
i got guardasil as soon as it came on the market. it better work, god damn it!
I am never coming to this shitty, fucked off, spirit crushing, mind rotting site again. Mario, there aren't enough numbers to count what a fucked off, delusional, mean spirited, jealous, hateful, untalented, morally bankrupt cunt you are. I look forward to the day your career officially goes down in flames… but your Hot Topic clusterfuck was the beginning of the end. I hope that every thing you've ever said about anyone comes back on you harder than you can handle and that you never know what fame tastes like. You are truly worthless and you've made the world a much worse place with your presence. All of the charities you post about don't amount to a log of shit in the great sewer that is your karmic debt. I hope that one day you will get at least a glimpse of the damage you have caused by hurting people, making people more hateful and petty, and putting all of that toxic energy out in the world and that one day that people will see you for what you really are… a bitter, pretentious, sad, envious, desperate, NO TALENT hypocite and an utterly disgusting human being… may you get what you deserve in return. The 2 good things I DID see on this site were your complete humiliation at the failure of your "clothing line" and Lily Allen sticking up for herself and PWNING your sad ass. Thank you, Lily. Now Mario, go fuck yourself sideways you fucking jackal.
Since people keep asking about the person's photo, this is the story:
In Northwest Indiana, Amber Kay Marshall, 23, worked as a teacher's aide in the learning disability classroom when she was arrested for allegedly having sexual intercourse with one student and oral sex with two students.
O-N-E L-E-S-S I WANNA BE ONE LESS ONE LESS!!!!!!! LOL
but seriously im gettin my HPV shot cuz thats terrible throat cancer just the thought makes my throat hurt!!!
wowwwwwww
I think I have this. going to a surgin monday. I cant do 5 months !