‘Not Just Tobacco, Oral Sex Too can Cause Cancer’
Radha Sharma I TNN
Ahmedabad : Mahesh Patel, 45, had difficulty swallowing food and water since the past six months. When started as a minor discomfort became a source of extreme pain when taking in even a gulp of water was taxing. Patel consulted an ENT specialist who suspected cancer and referred him to a cancer specialist.
Patel, who has never touched tobacco, was aghast when he was diagnosed with cancer at the base of his tongue, “Since there was no history of cancer and it was typical of those caused by the most commonly sexually transmitted disease Human Papilloma Virus (HPV). We got a test done. It was positive”, says oral cancer surgeon Dr Kaustubh Patel.
Patel had a history of oral sex which is now being considered one of the most common risk factors for contracting oral cancer caused by HPV. In fact, globally, doctors are warning men of thinking twice about going down on a woman, since there is a high chance that she may be infected at some point with HPV Virus which could, years down the line, lead to throat cancer.
(Name of patient changed to protect identity)
How it is different
How oral cancer caused by HPV is different from those caused by tobacco.
< Tobacco-related oral cancers mainly occur at the buccal mucosa, tongue and jaw bone.
Hope for HPV Patients Doctors say that HPV related oral cancers have a higher cure rate than those caused by tobacco. While the line of treatment remains the same, people with HPV caused cancers respond well to treatments including chemotheraphy and radiotherapy. Thanks, The Times of India- Times Nation, 28/11
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