The human papilloma virus (HPV) has been linked to cervical, head and neck cancers - and is classed as a sexually transmitted disease.
But new research has suggested it may be possible for people carrying the virus to unwittingly transmit it to other parts of their body.
Women in the study who engaged in behaviours that could mean HPV was transferred from their genitals to their mouth were nearly four times more likely to have an oral HPV infection than those who didn't.
Women who engaged in behaviours that could mean HPV was transferred from their gentials to their mouth were nearly four times more likely to have an oral HPV infection than those who didn't, a study found (file pic)
The LiveScience report suggests that these women must have already had an HPV infection in the genitals for it to then be transferred.
The findings of the research, presented last week at the American Public Health Association meeting in Boston, held even after other factors that may increase the risk of oral HPV infection - such as the number of sexual partners - were considered.
Human papillomavirus infection causes genital warts and is associated with a higher risk of developing genital, head and neck cancers.
It is spread through sexual contact and is more usually associated with cervical cancer in women.
The virus can be passed between men and women by genital contact, most often during vaginal and anal sex.
It may also be passed on during oral sex and genital-to-genital contact, even when the infected person has no signs or symptoms.
New research has suggested it may be possible for people carrying the HPV virus to unwittingly transmit it to other parts of their body, increasing the risk of oral cancer
In her study, researcher Natalie Kelso quizzed more than 1,000 college women on their sexual habits and tested them for oral HPV.
She then asked them questions about transferring a disease from one part of their body to another, known as self-inoculation.
These included: 'Has a hand, yours or someone else's, ever touched your genitals, and then touched your mouth?' and 'Have you ever put your mouth on a sex toy after it had touched your genitals?,' LiveScience reported.
Ms Kelsoe, a doctoral student at the University of Florida College of Public Health and Health Professions, reported that two per cent of participants had an oral HPV infection, and 16 per cent had engaged in behaviours that could lead to self-inoculation.
HPV is blamed for up to 80 per cent of these tumours of the tonsils and the back of the tongue
Among the self-inoculation group, six per cent had an oral HPV infection, compared with just 1.2 percent of those who had never engaged in behaviours that could lead to further transmission.
Although most mouth and throat cancers are normally blamed on drinking and smoking, an increasing number of cases that occur around the tonsils and back of the tongue are due to HPV.
In the U.S., HPV is blamed for up to 80 per cent of these tumours of the tonsils and the back of the tongue, which experts say could be due to increasing popularity of oral sex.
In Britain, the number of mouth and throat cancers have increased by 40 per cent in just a decade, to 6,200 cases a year. Cancer Research UK says HPV may be key to the ‘rapid rise’.
But the new study's author, Natalie Kelso, a doctoral student at the University of Florida College of Public Health and Health Profession, adds that more work is needed before a full conclusion can be made on the self-infection theory.
Research published earlier this year found that infection with certain strains of HPV significantly increases the risk of cancers in the back of the throat, new research has found.
University of Oxford researchers found that more than a third of those who had oropharyngeal cancers - those at the back of the throat - also carried antibodies to one of HPV’s key cancer-causing proteins – a protein from the HPV16 virus called E6.
In comparison, less than one per cent of people without cancer carried the antibodies in their blood.
HPV’s E6 protein disables the p53 protein which is known as the ‘guardian of the genome’ because it protects cells from DNA damage and the development of cancer.
WHAT IS THE HUMAN PAPILLOMAVIRUS AND WHAT'S THE LINK WITH CANCER?
Human papillomavirus (HPV) is spread through sexual contact and is more usually associated with cervical cancer in women. It is the most commonly sexually transmitted infection in the U.S.
HPV can be passed between men and women by genital contact, most often during vaginal and anal sex.
It may also be passed on during oral sex and genital-to-genital contact. It can be passed on between straight and same-sex partners—even when the infected person has no signs or symptoms.
The cervical cancer jab given to 12 and 13-year-old schoolgirls aims to cut their odds of the cancer by protecting them against the virus.
Although most mouth and throat cancers are normally blamed on drinking and smoking an increasing number of cases that occur around the tonsils and back of the tongue are due to HPV.
Although the cancer is not contagious, the virus is.
In the US, HPV is blamed for up to 80 per cent of these tumours of the tonsils and the back of the tongue, which experts say could be due to increasing popularity of oral sex.
The typical patient is described as an otherwise healthy man in his late 40s or early 50s who has never smoked or smoked very little.
In Britain, the number of mouth and throat cancers have increased by 40 per cent in just a decade, to 6,200 cases a year.
Cancer Research UK says the HPV virus may be key to the ‘rapid rise’.
Symptoms include persistent mouth ulcers, pain, discoloured patches and difficulty chewing and swallowing.
Men are advised to check their neck for lumps when shaving and both sexes to look at the back of their throat while brushing their teeth.
Treatments such as chemotherapy, radiotherapy and surgery are often more successful in mouth and throat cancers caused by the virus than those caused by tobacco and alcohol.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2505614/Can-YOURSELF-cancer-causing-HPV-virus-Study-finds-sex-acts-increase-risk-throat-cancer.html#ixzz2kYjlVUWk
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