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Release: Immediate
Rise in mouth cancer cases in young people â€" is oral sex the missing link?
Date: 12/11/2007
Release: Immediate
The UK’s leading dental charity today issued a warning to sexually active young people, saying ‘unprotected oral sex could increase your mouth cancer risk’.
The British Dental Health Foundation was speaking after a study, published in the online ‘Cancer’ journal, suggested that the Human papillomavirus (HPV) could be responsible for many cancers in the mouth and throat.
The research, revealed in advance of this year’s Mouth Cancer Awareness Week (November 11–17), focused on people that develop mouth cancer but do not smoke and revealed that up to one in two people in this category also have the sexually transmitted HPV virus.
Dr Nigel Carter, chief executive of the British Dental Health Foundation, commented: “There is a growing body of evidence to suggest that oral sex could be a possible risk factor for mouth cancer.
“The HPV virus is a known cause of cervical cancer and this research suggests that the infection could be passed on during oral sex too.
“As young people become more sexually active this link certainly helps to explain the recent increase in mouth cancer cases among that age group. In the last 10 years the percentage of males under the age of 45 with mouth cancer has risen by almost a third.
“Mouth cancer was once considered to be caused exclusively by alcohol and tobacco and these are certainly major risk factors, but previously there has been no explanation for the continued rise among young people who do not smoke or drink.
“The HPV virus could well be the missing link in explaining the increase in young people developing mouth cancer.â€
In the South East of England the ratio of male mouth cancer sufferers that were aged under 45 was just one in 15 in 1996. In 2005 it was one in 10. It is a similar story for women â€" rising from one in 15 at it’s lowest in this period to one in 11 in 2005.
Dr Carter added: “Mouth cancer is an extremely serious condition, but early detection increases survival chances from one in two to nine out of 10 â€" so it is vital that people are aware of the symptoms.
“If you have an ulcer that doesn’t heal after three weeks or you notice a lump or a red or white patch in the mouth you should visit your dentist or doctor immediately.â€
More information on mouth cancer is available at www.mouthcancer.org
Editor’s notes
For further information please contact the Foundation’s Press Office on 0870 770 4014 or email pr@dentalhealth.org. For urgent weekend enquiries please call 07940 582491.
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