People who had 10 or more oral sex partners were 4.3 times more likely to develop human papillomavirus-related mouth and throat cancer, according to new research.
Scientists at Johns Hopkins University have also found that having oral sex at a younger age – and with more partners – also increases the risk of cancer caused by HPV.
“Our research helps patients and physicians answer the question, ‘Why did I develop HPV cancer … cancer,'” study co-author Dr. Virginia Drake told UPI.
“The risk of infection is not just about the number of sexual partners in a lifetime, as the timing of oral sex and partner type also play a role,” said Drake, a head and neck surgeon at Johns Hopkins.
In the United States, just over 7 percent of all adults between the ages of 18 and 69 have HPV, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
About 45,000 people – 55% of them women – are diagnosed with HPV-related cancer each year, the CDC estimates.
The Baltimore hospital team surveyed 163 adults with HPV-related mouth and throat cancer – and 345 without these diseases – about their sexual behaviors.
The researchers said that oral sex in adolescence or adolescence increased the risk of cancer by 80%. Starting younger and having more partners, the risk increased by 180%, they added.
Meanwhile, people who had older sexual partners when they were young and those with partners who had extramarital sex were up to 70 percent more likely to have the disease, according to data cited by UPI.
“People with HPV-associated cancer … have a broad spectrum of sex histories,” Drake said.
“As with all sexually transmitted diseases, the existence of new partners introduces a certain risk of infection, but most people who become infected eliminate the infection without developing cancer,” she added.
In a statement, she said: “As the incidence of HPV-related oropharyngeal cancer continues to rise in the United States, our study provides a contemporary assessment of risk factors for this disease.
“We have discovered additional nuances of how and why some people may develop this cancer, which could help identify those at higher risk,” Drake added.