US scientists said Sunday there is strong evidence linking oral
sex to cancer, and urged more study of how human
papillomaviruses may be to blame for a rise in oral cancer among
white men. In the United States, oral cancer due to HPV
infection is now more common than oral cancer from tobacco use,
which remains the leading cause of such cancers in the rest of
the world. Researchers have found a 225-percent increase in oral
cancer cases in the United States from 1974 to 2007, mainly
among white men, said Maura Gillison of Ohio State University.
"When you compare people who have an oral infection or not...
the single greatest factor is the number of partners on whom the
person has performed oral sex," said Gillison, who has been
researching HPV and cancer for 15 years. "When the number of
partners increases, the risk increases," she told reporters at
the American Association for the Advancement of Science meeting
in Washington. Previous studies have suggested that people who
have performed oral sex on six or mor