The author, Stephen Reynolds, writes, “I was in my 40s, with a young son, and my wife and I were building a life around him. That’s when something from my past threatened to take it all away.” When Stephen learned that he had a large tumor at the base of his tongue, he also discovered that it was a stage IV squamous cell carcinoma related to the human papillomavirus, HPV, that causes the majority of cervical cancers.

This type of cancer is being directly linked to oral sex which was an alternate and preferred sex option for many who grew up in the revolutionary 1970s and 80s. Because social scientists were emphasizing the importance of practicing safe sex, oral sex appeared to be a safe choice for young people who were experimenting with mind-expanding drugs during the sexual revolution. While sexually savvy individuals understood the necessity for condoms, “no one was practicing oral sex, using latex,” Reynolds states.

Since this type of cancer is on the increase, here are some startling statistics. According to Maura Gillison, MD, of Johns Hopkins, 20 million Americans are currently infected with HPV. Dr. Gillison is one of the first to study the correlation between the rise of throat and neck cancers among young nonsmokers and the HPV virus. 6.2 million new cases of HPV are documented each year. So far, there is no cure and only one test is available that detects HPV in the female cervix. To determine whether an oral cancer is directly linked to a cervical cancer requires a biopsy. Once the virus is confirmed, the throat or tongue cancer can be directly linked to oral sex practice. More than 35,000 people will be diagnosed with oral cancer this year; 25 percent will be connected to HPV. Not all throat and tongue cancers are HPV related; the other 75 percent can be linked to excessive alcohol and nicotine use.

HPV is a deceptive disease. Most people will not manifest early symptoms, so there has been a strong disregard for passing the virus to a partner through oral sex. At least half of sexually active men and women could become infected with HPV in their lifetime. Approximately 23 percent of women ages 14 to 65 have high-risk HPV, including 35 percent of 14- to 19-year-old girls.

Some of the early symptoms of throat and tongue cancer are a persistent cough and scratchy throat that do not respond to regular cold and flu treatments. HPV-related throat and tongue cancer is an extremely aggressive type of cancer that must be treated immediately and there are many risks with surgery. These include nerve damage, disfigurement, loss of speech, possible artificial voice box, and problems swallowing and chewing.

A main concern in the medical field today is because oral sex is the preferred sex of most teenagers, as well as many young adults today, and because a high percentage of teenagers become sexually active, this type of cancer may explode in proportion to young adults within the next two decades. While HPV can remain dormant, it is easy to detect when a young female is a carrier with a routine, annual gynecological exam and a pap smear. The best approach to this disease is to practice abstinence and wait until marriage to become sexually active.