Michael Douglas Blames His Throat Cancer on Oral Sex

Experts say the claim is probably correct, because tumors caused by HPV virus much more responsive to treatment

By Steven Reinberg

HealthDay Reporter

MONDAY, June 3 (HealthDay News) -- Hollywood star Michael Douglas says oral sex caused his recent bout with throat cancer.

"Without wanting to get too specific, this particular cancer is caused by HPV, which actually comes about from cunnilingus," Douglas, 68, told the British newspaper The Guardian. He added that he has had real success beating back the tumor with chemotherapy and, "with this kind of cancer, 95 percent of the time it doesn't come back."

Douglas is also a longtime smoker, and was at one time a heavy drinker -- both behaviors are risk factors for throat cancer. But experts say it's not farfetched to think oral sex may have been a contributing factor.

"This is no surprise to anybody who studies infectious diseases," said Dr. Marc Siegel, an associate professor of medicine at NYU Langone Medical Center, New York City said. "There is a big increase in HPV-related cancers, and one of the main ones, if not the main one, is throat cancer."

Douglas was diagnosed with cancer in 2010 and underwent two months of chemotherapy and radiation. He remains cancer-free, but has checkups often to catch any recurrence, he told the paper.

Seigel said most adults are at risk of contracting HPV, and 80 percent of people will test positive for HPV infection within five years of becoming sexually active. The virus is also thought to cause the vast majority of cervical cancers, which is why U.S. health authorities have recommended that boys and girls get inoculated with the HPV vaccine.

Another expert agreed that HPV contracted through oral sex can trigger throat cancer.

"We are living through an HPV epidemic," said Dr. Dennis Kraus, director of the Center for Head and Neck Oncology at North Shore- LIJ Cancer Institute in Lake Success, N.Y. "We used to think of throat and neck cancer as a disease of smokers and drinkers," he said, but the demographics have changed and it's increasingly become a sexually contracted disease.

The good news is that there is an 80 percent treatment response rate for this type of cancer, Siegel noted.

"It's much more responsive than any other throat cancer. If the cancer is due to smoking or alcohol, the ballgame is over practically. This is very responsive, which is why I'm not surprised to see that he's cured," Siegel said.

If a woman has HPV, then having oral sex is also a risk for infection, Siegel said. "It's most likely transmitted from females to males," Kraus noted.

Douglas also told The Guardian that oral sex was a cure for his cancer, something Siegel considers humorous. "Saying that oral sex is also the 'cure' is a joke," Seigel said. "He is trying to tell you about courage in the face of illness."

Although the evidence for preventing throat cancer by getting vaccinated for HPV isn't clear, Siegel believes that every boy 15 and older should get vaccinated before he becomes sexually active.

Kraus agreed that both boys and girls should be vaccinated against HPV, but he added that there's not enough data to know how much vaccination might help when it comes to throat cancer. "This is a cancer associated with HPV," he said. "The question is whether vaccination will change the face of this disease -- that's not clear."

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Chronic Heartburn May Raise Odds for Throat Cancer: Study

But simple antacids appear to lower the risk, researchers report

By Steven Reinberg

HealthDay Reporter

THURSDAY, May 23 (HealthDay News) -- People who suffer from frequent heartburn may be at increased risk for cancers of the throat and vocal cords even if they don't smoke or drink alcohol, a new study says.

Interestingly, common over-the-counter antacids seemed to protect against these cancers while prescription medications such as Prilosec, Nexium and Prevacid didn't, the researchers said.

"There has been a controversy about whether heartburn contributes to cancers of the larynx or pharynx," said lead researcher Scott Langevin, a postdoctoral research fellow at Brown University in Providence, R.I.

"And we found out that it does elevate the risk of these cancers. There is about a 78 percent increase in the risk for cancer in people who experience heavy heartburn," he said. "This is important in figuring out who to monitor more closely."

The other finding, which Langevin called "surprising," was the protective effect of common antacids in reducing the risk of cancer.

"We didn't see that protective effect with prescription medications. But it should be noted that people who take them are those who get the worst heartburn, so we shouldn't read too much into that," he said.

Langevin added that it's hard to explain that medication finding, and other studies will be needed to see if it's really the case. "It's possible that these drugs didn't have that protective effect because these were the worst cases of heartburn," he said.

The report was published May 23 in the journal Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention. And while it uncovered an association between heartburn and cancer of the throat and vocal cords, it didn't prove a cause-and-effect relationship.

Dr. Len Lichtenfeld, deputy chief medical officer at the American Cancer Society, said "the study shows that reflux is associated with an increased incidence of cancers of the larynx and pharynx."

Lichtenfeld said the role of antacids in reducing the risk of cancer needs more study. "Researchers need to determine why antacids work and, more importantly, whether antacids make a difference in also reducing cancer of the esophagus," he said.

Why other medications didn't lower the risk isn't clear, Lichtenfeld said. And it points to one limitation of this type of study: It can't take into account all the variables.

To come to their conclusions, Langevin's group compared more than 600 patients with throat or vocal cord cancer with more than 1,300 people without a history of cancer. All the patients answered questions about their history of heartburn, smoking and drinking habits, and family history of cancer.

In addition, since some head and neck cancers are caused by the human papillomavirus (HPV), the researchers tested all the participants for antigens to the virus.

The researchers found that among those who weren't heavy smokers or drinkers, frequent heartburn increased the risk for cancers of the throat and vocal cords by 78 percent.

The researchers also found that taking antacids -- but not prescription medications or home remedies -- reduced the risk for these cancers by 41 percent. The protective effect of antacids was independent of smoking, drinking or infection with HPV, they said.

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