--- title: "Worried About Getting Throat Cancer From Oral Sex? We Have Very Good News" description: "Doctors are warning about oral sex leading to an \"epidemic\" in throat cancer — but headlines fail to mention a vaccine that can help." date: "2023-05-05" modified: "2023-05-05" authors: - name: "Noor Al-Sibai" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/nooralsibai" url: "https://futurism.com/neoscope/throat-cancer-hpv-vaccine" categories: - "Cancer" - "Health & Medicine" - "Medical" tags: - "cancer" - "gardasil" - "hpv" - "vaccines" --- # Worried About Getting Throat Cancer From Oral Sex? We Have Very Good News ![Doctors are warning about oral sex leading to an "epidemic" in throat cancer — but headlines fail to mention a vaccine that can help.]() *\Image: Getty Images\* As far as alarming headlines are concerned, there are few scarier than those warning that oral sex is causing an epidemic of throat cancer. Last week, British cancer researcher Hisham Mehanna published a sobering column in *The Conversation* — "[Oral sex is now the leading risk factor for throat cancer]()" — about the increase in throat cancer as a result of HPV infection, often contracted via oral sex. "For oropharyngeal cancer, the main risk factor is the number of lifetime sexual partners, especially oral sex," the University of Birmingham cancer expert wrote. "Those with six or more lifetime oral-sex partners are 8.5 times more likely to develop oropharyngeal cancer than those who do not \[practice\] oral sex." That's indeed alarming. But there's good news for any oral sex enjoyers out there: there's an HPV vaccine, [Gardasil](), that can greatly decrease the risk. Mehanna, to his credit, does allude to the vaccine — but only briefly, far below the headline, and with an emphasis on growing vaccine hesitancy. The reality, [according to the ]()CDC, is that "vaccination could prevent more than 90 percent of cancers caused by HPV from ever developing." That's not a complete guarantee — after all, there's no such thing as perfectly safe sex, [only safer sex]() — but widespread vaccination could cut HPV-related cancers into a tiny fraction. Dentists in particular, the CDC notes, have [become invested]() in suggesting HPV vaccination to patients, citing a [growing body of evidence]() that it can prevent oral or throat cancer. Mehanna does make another good point in his column: that HPV vaccination, which was initially only recommended for girls and young women due to the virus' propensity for causing cervical cancer, is now also available to boys and young men. While there are still more girls vaccinated against the sexually-transmitted infection than boys, [HPV vaccination appears to be on the rise for boys](), too. In other words, it's true that oral sex isn't risk free. But there's an easy step that anyone partaking in it can take to drastically cut the risk — and the more people are aware of that, the better. **More on cancer:** [*Man's Cancer Caused "Uncontrollable" Irish Accent, Doctors Say*]() ## Author At Futurism, I've often been drawn to unpacking the narratives that underlie technological, scientific and medical progress, with a special interest in areas of conflict and ambiguity that end up setting agendas and steering the fates of both elites and the hoi polloi. I'm a committed generalist, but I often find myself returning to work involving NASA and the private space sector, the effects of AI on media and society, and the mechanics of the pharmaceutical industry, with a specific focus on the spread of GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy. Prior to Futurism, I worked for publications ranging from Media Matters and Truthdig to Raw Story and Bustle. I'm also the author of "Myspace Scene Queens," a 2024 title in Instar Books' acclaimed "Remember the Internet" series. My work at Futurism has been cited by outlets including the New Yorker, Slate, Nieman Lab, the Verge, the MIT Technology Review, the Sunday Times, and the Daily Beast. I grew up in North Carolina, attended the University of North Carolina at Asheville, and now live in Brooklyn, New York. In my free time, I'm an avid reader and music fan; you can probably find me at a local poetry reading, concert, underground rave, or DJ set. I'm the proud parent of an ineffable orange cat named Mee-Mow. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()