Women who have more sex have LESS
risk of oral cancer say scientists (but it's not true for men)
Women who have a higher number of sexual partners are less
likely to develop cancer of the throat and mouth, researchers say.
The cancers are linked to the human papillomavirus, or HPV,
one of the most common sexually transmitted infections.
Researchers told the American Association for the
Advancement of Science's annual meeting that they also found men were twice as
likely to develop the disease
She said her research shows that youths are engaging in oral
sex at increasingly young ages, compared to past generations.
'Our research shows that for men, the number of oral sex
partners - as that number increases, the risk of an oral HPV infection
increases,' she told reporters.
But with women, the number of sexual partners does not
appear to raise the risk.
'Comparing men and women with the same number of sexual
partners, a man is much more likely to become infected with oral HPV than a
woman.'
Furthermore, women who have a greater number of vaginal sex
partners appear to face a lower risk of oral HPV infection, she said. The reason may be that when women are first exposed to HPV
vaginally, they mount an immune response that prevents them from getting an
oral HPV infection.
But men do not seem to have equally robust immune responses.
'Men are not only more likely to be infected with oral HPV
infection than women, but our research shows that once you become infected, men
are less likely to clear this infection than women, further contributing for
the cancer risk.'
HPV infection is quite common, and most people clear the
virus within a year or two, she said.
In
some cases, however, HPV does not go away and can lead to cellular changes in
the mouth and throat
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