Throat cancer cases in the West since the start of twenty-first century have rapidly increased. The spike in throat cancer cases is significant enough that in the recent past, experts have called it “an epidemic”.
The large rise in a type of throat cancer called oropharyngeal cancer (the area of the tonsils and back of the throat) has even alarmed the medical experts. This type of cancer is majorly caused by human papillomavirus (HPV), which is sexually transmitted. Individuals with multiple sexual partners, who also practice oral sex, remain at the risk of acquiring this type of throat cancer during their lifetime, according to professor Hisham Mehanna at the Institute of Cancer and Genomic Sciences at the University of Birmingham.
According to a ‘case-control study of HPV and Oropharyngeal Cancer’ published in the New England Journal of Medicine, individuals with six or more lifetime oral-sex partners are 8.5 times more likely to develop oropharyngeal cancer than those who do not practice oral sex.
Oropharyngeal cancer is now more common than cervical cancer in the United States and the United Kingdom.
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Professor Mehanna cited a study he and his colleagues at University of Birmingham conducted. The study showed that oral sex is quite prevalent in some countries. In almost 1,000 people with non-cancer related tonsillectomy issues in the United Kingdom, 80 per cent of adults reported practicing oral sex at some point in their lives.
HPV vaccination a preventive step
An article by professor Hisham Mehanna in The Conversation points out that HPV vaccination of young girls has been implemented in a number of countries to prevent cervical cancer. In the countries with up to 85 per cent vaccine coverage among girls, boy are protected by human papillomavirus (HPV) due to herd immunity.
But still, internationally, the vaccination does not warrant individual protection in an age of hyperconnectivity where plenty of sexual contacts may occur where the either person comes from a country with low HPV vaccine coverage.
In India, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government in February 2023 announced plans dto administer HPV vaccine to girls aged nine to 14 years in six states.
This first phase of the HPV vaccination campaign is expected to target 255 million girls in Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Mizoram, Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra, and Uttar Pradesh states respectively, Press Trust of India reported. India’s health ministry plans to acquire 160.2 million doses of the vaccine by 2026 and is preparing to tender a global call for bids.
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