HPV, Oral Sex and Michael Douglas

Actor Michael Douglas revealed Sunday that his throat cancer was caused not by too much smoking or drinking, but by HPV (Human papillomavirus) contracted by giving oral sex to women.

In an interview published Sunday in the Guardian, the actor said about his cancer, "without wanting to get too specific, this particular cancer is caused by HPV, which actually comes from cunnilingus."

A representative for Douglas later clarified the actor's words, saying that Douglas never said oral sex was the cause of his own cancer, just one of the many causes.

But the takeaway remains unfazed: it is possible to contract oral cancer by giving oral sex. 

Human papillomavirus is a sexually transmitted infection that often presents itself without symptoms. HPV is most widely known for its connection with cervical cancer, but it is also known to be linked with other cancers, including cancers of the penis, anus, vagina, as well as head and neck cancers.

"HPV being a cause of head and neck cancer was really only accepted about five years ago," Dr. Maura Gillison, a professor at Ohio State University who studies HPV infections in the head, throat and neck, told TIME magazine's Healthland blog. "Before then, no one really cared about oral HPV infections."

HPV is "incredibly widespread in the population, more than eight out of 10 of us have it," said Kat Arney, of Cancer Research UK, in an in a radio interview with BBC. "If you're reasonable sexually active, you've probably had it at some point and your immune system just gets rid of it, you wouldn't even know that you had an infection."

Only some strains of HPV can cause cancer and only a small number of people will get cancer if they contract HPV, Arney said, though she did note there has been a marked rise in HPV related mouth and throat cancers.

"It is a known phenomenon," said Gillison. "In the U.S., there is an active shift going on. Fortunately thanks to tobacco policy and public health awareness, the incidence rate for the classical head and neck cancer caused by smoking is declining. But unfortunately, the rate of oropharynx cancer is still going up and it's because of the HPV component."

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention states that about 60 percent of cancers of the throat, tonsils and the base of tongue, collectively known as oropharyngeal cancers, are related to HPV. HPV-related oral cancers are most common in black and white men, with Caucasians having a slightly higher rate of diagnosis.

"The incidence is rising pretty rapidly in the U.S.," Gillison said to Healthland. "Approximately 10% per year, particularly among Caucasian middle-age men."

Michael Douglas offered some sage advise to Guardian writer Xan Brooks regarding oral cancer and oral sex: If you have it, "cunnilingus is also the best cure for it."

Brooks asked Douglas if he is suggesting it all evens out.

"That's right," said Douglas. "It giveth and it taketh."