Changing sexual habits raise mouth cancer risk

The number of people diagnosed with mouth cancer has almost trebled in the past five years because of smoking, alcohol addiction, and changing sexual habits.

The situation, which is causing 210 cases of the potentially fatal condition every year, is set to be revealed at the upcoming Irish Dentists Association’s annual conference.

Speaking to the Irish Examiner before the meeting in Kilkenny City on Friday, leading expert Paddy McCann said mouth cancer has traditionally been linked only to a person’s alcohol and smoking habits. However, in recent years, the hidden health risks of oral sex have resulted in a surge in cases due to the human papilloma virus (HPV), which is most commonly known to cause cervical cancer.

While Dr McCann stressed the surge in cases is caused by a combination of all three factors, he said “changing sexual practices” in Irish society are playing a role in more people being at risk from the deadly condition.

“There has been an overall two- to threefold increase in diagnoses in the past five years, and the HPV 16 strain is one viral culprit in the significant increase in oral cancer,” said the University Hospital Galway-based oral surgeon and maxillofacial consultant. “Traditionally oral cancer involved people in their late 50s or early 60s, who had a lower socio-economic status and had smoking and drinking habits. However, we are now seeing people in their 40s or 50s, young and well-educated people with no bad habits who would not have been part of affected groups before.

“Oral sex is playing a role in this as part of a multi-factorial cause.”

Similar trends are also apparent in most parts of Europe and North America, Dr McCann said.

While he noted that overall survival rates five years after a mouth cancer diagnosis — considered a key indicator for long-term survival — stand at just 55%, early diagnosis can push this rate up to 80%-90%.

In an attempt to address the matter before it becomes a more significant cause of concern, the HSE and the National Cancer Control Programme contacted dentists and consultants working in the mouth cancer field last year to help track how and where new cases are occurring. This approach will be used to help form a more patient-focused strategy to tackle the issue in the years to come.

Michael Douglas cancer warning

When Oscar-winning actor Michael Douglas suggested last year that his throat cancer was caused by oral sex, it raised more than a few eyebrows.

However, while alcohol and smoking are far more common causes of the condition — and the related but different mouth cancer — there was some truth in the Hollywood star’s claim.

Mouth cancer occurs when cancerous growths in the tongue, jaw, and teeth go unattended. This can be caused from long-term alcohol and smoking habits, which wear down these areas, making them more susceptible to the illness.

As Douglas claimed, people who engage in oral sex can increase the risk of the human papilloma virus linked to cervical cancer taking root in a person’s mouth.

The most common symptoms are a non-healing ulcer at the back of the mouth lasting more than three weeks, bleeding gums, and swelling in the neck.

www.mouthcancerawareness.ie www.dentist.ie.