A 60-year-old guy with two kids is shocked to find that oral intercourse and the human papillomavirus (HPV) gave him throat cancer.
In November 2023, Frank Lane from Basingstoke, Hampshire, found a hard lump the size of an egg on the right side of his neck.
At first, he believed it was just swollen glands from working out too much.
The HGV driver went to see his doctor after two weeks when the swelling didn’t go down. The doctor said he needed to have testing done right away.
According to scans, he had throat cancer caused by HPV, which is normally spread through close contact, like oral sex.
According to the results of his biopsies, he may have received the virus as long as 40 years ago, when he was 20 and entered the army.
Frank was advised that the disease showed no signs after several months of radiation and treatment.
He is warning people not to disregard strange symptoms and is checked out every two months.
Throat cancer linked to HPV has been on the rise lately.
A new study found that HPV may be to blame for up to 70% of head and neck cancer occurrences, even though most people think that drinking too much and smoking were the main causes of these diseases.
Most people obtain HPV at some point in their lives, but their bodies normally get rid of the virus on their own.
But sometimes the virus changes healthy tissue in a way that is bad for it.
The virus has already been linked to malignancies of the penis, the anus, and the cervix.
Experts think that more people are getting throat cancer because more people are having oral sex, especially younger and middle-aged adults.
In 2010, actor Michael Douglas made news when he said that oral sex gave him throat cancer.
Frank said that when he first noticed something was amiss, he “felt my neck while shaving and thought, ‘That feels a bit hard.'”
The doctor saw a tumor the size of a boiled egg sticking out from the top of my tonsils when he looked in my mouth.
I blamed my job and not getting enough sleep for how tired I was.
I also started getting up three or four times a night to go to the bathroom, but I thought that was just because I was getting older.
My girlfriend said that it might just be swollen glands from the stress of working out.
He was surprised to find out that oral sex had made him sick.
I didn’t expect this because I quit smoking eleven years ago.
Some of the guys at work chuckled, but not because of the disease. They laughed because of how it happened.
When I advised them to look it up on Google, their faces became white.
The doctor explained that the virus that got into my biopsies probably started about 40 years ago.
At 20, I was having sex, but I wasn’t with a lot of different women.
Frank started treatment at Henley Hospital in Oxfordshire in January 2024, after spending 12 years in the Royal Corps of Signals. He had six weeks of radiation therapy and two rounds of chemotherapy.
He said, “That radiotherapy was the most painful thing I’ve ever been through, even though I was in the army for 12 years.”
He is now telling others about his journey sixteen months after finishing therapy.
“I wouldn’t recommend oral sex.”
However, if you notice any strange symptoms, such feeling tired, swelling, or lumps, don’t ignore them; it’s best to consult a doctor right away.
Cancer Research UK says that head and neck cancer is the eighth most frequent type of cancer in the UK. Each year, about 12,500 new cases are found and 4,000 people die from the condition.
The NHS says that 80% of people will develop HPV, but most of them will get better.
The World Health Organization (WHO) says that the HPV vaccine is the best way to protect yourself, yet only 56% of girls and 50% of boys in the UK get it. In Denmark, however, more than 80% of people get it.
In 2008, girls in Year 8 were able to have the vaccine, and boys were able to get it in 2019.
Experts say that the low uptake is due to stigma and wrong ideas about the vaccination, like the idea that it solely stops cervical cancer.
Frank’s story reminds us that HPV can stay hidden for years and that finding it early can save lives.
