Clueless on STDs, Throat Cancer, and Oral Sex

Reader Comments
Back to article

As a victim and lucky so far survivor of throat cancer. I believe this should be approved for use in every one under 50 ASAP. A shot instead of 35 radiation treatments Cisplatin and Cetuximab, would have been great. A ounce of prevention instead of a pound of cure. I have little saliva lost my teeth, difficulty swallowing, and have to take thyroid meds for the rest of my life thanks to this terrible, but preventable with the vaccine disease.

Joe Ripp of WA 1:52AM February 18, 2010

i'm 14 and i totally agree oral sex is scary nd so is sex thats why you wait or idk do it with some one who hasnt had sex either but thats a dumb idea.teenage sex or oral sex can lead to way worse thingsss so thtas why you just gotta learn to keep you pants on and mouth closed haha yeah thats my opinion. but these days guys pressure girls to do thintgs that they don't wanna do and girls sometimes don't know how to say NO! so thats a reason why stds are travelling

chris of CA 8:26PM February 15, 2010

My Husband was just diagnosed with stage IV oropharyngeal cancer. He is 58 years old and we have been together for 30 years. He does not smoke or drink heavy. His Doctor suspects its from HPV.
I have never had HPV, I have had many surgeries over the years and two children. I just had a check up with my gynecologist. No mention of cervical cancer.What are the chances that he has HPV and I don't? Could I be a carrier? How can I get tested to find out? A surgeon at one hospital wants to do chemo twice a week for 6weeks and than radiation and chemo for 6weeks followed with surgery. Another surgeon wants to put him in the hospital for a week at a time and do chemo twice a day.One week in the hospital one week out for twelve weeks. Than radiation and surgery. Both surgeons seem excellent,both are at very highly rated hospitals. We are concerned that one treatment seems severe compared to the other.
We want this to not come back or continue to spread Both of us own our own companies with a lot of responsibility. I would love to hear what other people have done.

julie of IL 12:32PM November 14, 2009

I've looked through multiple articles on this and seen teens practicing "oral sex" mentioned as a culprit, men mentioned as carriers of HPV, and protection only consisting of the "miracle" that is Gardasil. No actual infection criteria is stated, so it's useless info. "Oral sex" can be male-to-female, female-to-male, male-to-male and female-to-female; or more simply, mouth-to-penis or mouth-to vagina (setting aside another orifice--which maybe shouldn't be if this IS science). Since the vagina harbors and incubates HPV (and HIV--that's why it's easier for a female to be infected by a male) is Gardasil's maker trying to falsely scare men to their product as "carriers?" Is the vague info meant to scare teens, period, barely mentioning, if at all, that adults can be compromised? Or is the vagueness meant to hide that oral-to-vagina sex is the infection criteria but it's too politically sensitive an area to "blame" women?

TK of KY 10:05PM April 12, 2009

I heard about this via Private Practice. I can't believe that this is actually fact! I think that this is something that needs to be brought to the foreground.. personally I don't want my husband to have throat cancer because I carry the virus. I was always told me carry it but it doesn't harm them and there is nothing that can be done! Scary!

Alicia of VA 10:59AM April 07, 2009

at 60 years young,with a healthy libido(male) and with all the info about the dangers of unprotected sex and very little sex education at a very early age, i abstain from sexual partners altogether,as sex is very dangerous proposition,, if u don't really know about your partner medically speaking,, which is to say thatfor me to have sex of any type, the potential partner would have to undergo an extensive medical exam, before having any kind of sex any kind, which would included any kind of fluid exchange... and since i think these tests would be very expensive and perhaps unreliabe, in some cases(if this approach is possible) i just prefer to abstain, and masturate, which is the safe way to go.I miss sex, but not that much, too put myself and others at risk. life can be a Bitch, but i believe its better to be as safe as possible. BETTER SAFE THAN SORRY ORDEAD.

BRUCELEEHING of TX 7:36AM March 13, 2009

At 68 I developed a squamous cell carcinoma at the base of my tongue. A non smoker/drinker. Where did it come from. My research led me to the oral sex concept and it made perfect sense. I was rebuffed by both the radiologist and the chemo doctor as being "off my proverbial rocker" for even suggesting such a cause. Even after I provided them with printed information from J. Hopkins and Mayo, they were very reluctant to believe me. Here, after a year of being theoretically clean, I am faced with a glossectomy because their methods failed. I have live a good life but there are so many young people who face this problem because they know nothing about it. I am going to personally produce a DVD, available to schools and such, that tell my story in vivid detail, about the upcoming operations. One for removal and one for reconstruction. They will know what a stoma is, they will know what it is to not be able to eat whole food. I will show them the results of the concept that oral sex is not really sex. Someone has to do it. I will also make personal appearances to schools, tv, radios (while I can still talk) because this is a message long overdue and NO ONE seems to be willing to approach it this way.
Kids react to visuals. They react to reality that is in their face. I only hope to be able to save one, if that is the end result of my endeavor. That will at least be 'one' who will not suffer as I have and as have others. I will not use uppity medical phrases but rather language the kids understand and the parents cringe at. Getting the word out will not be easy because of the parents. I don't care. If it embarrasses the parents, then they too, need to be at the school auditorium or the girls education class or the boys gym class or whereever the school deems appropriate for such a lecture.
I am not looking for a name. My mother already gave me one of those. I am looking to educate. My doctors, the medical society, nurses, all of them have failed to educate and continue to do so. ONLY someone who has been there, done that, came back scarred and disfigured because of it, will be able to reach others. I am......

Robert A. De Long of AR 7:22AM February 23, 2009

The government does allow abstinence based sexual education programs as class, which basically said don't have sex. A lot of people feel this is the problem. Everyone acts that all teenagers aren't having sex because they were told not. Hopefully, those people will wake up and realize teens are having sex and they need to be told a little more information than "no sex before marriage." I think whose teens that are having sex out of curiosity or because they think they are in love and will spend the rest of their lives with their partner. I remember in my school district, sex ed was required in elementary and middle not high school. Also, by law if a parent didn't want their child to take sex ed they could have their child opt out of it by writing a letter to the teacher or the administrator running the class.

Sheena of VA 2:42PM January 16, 2009

You can't get or transmit STDs if you only have one lifetime sex partner. That's the benefit of waiting for marriage before having ANY form of sex.
Just because the bible is full of fairy tales doesn't mean that all of it is wrong.

Dan Bullard of WA 7:55AM January 12, 2009

Oral cancers are not the only potential disease associated with unprotected oral sex. There is a real possibility that the epidemic in Alzheimer's Disease (AD) can be traced to the very significant rise in oral sex since WWII. It seems that AD is increasing in the US much faster than the rate at which the older population is increasing. Inother words, AD is mainly being driven by something other than ageing. New evidence suggests a very powerful link between oral bacteria (esp treponema denticola) and AD. Very high proportions of AD patients have been found with oral bacteria in the brain. However, other evidence indicates that the bacteria alone are not the cause - implying that oral bacteria act as very slow moving vehicles carrying toxins, along the trigeminal nerves, to the brain - the toxins having been acquired orally. Unprotected oral sex is a prime contender for the source of such toxins, since the ano-genital region is never sterile. Further info. available at bbc/h2g2/Alzheimer's Disease: cause & cure?

Rob N 6:12AM January 10, 2009