Source: BBC Three
Author: staff

Darren was diagnosed with orophyrangeal cancer, a rare form of mouth cancer at the age of only 31. But that wasn’t the only shocking news that he had to deal with. Most oral cancers are caused by smoking or drinking but Darren’s cancer was caused by the Human Papillomavirus (HPV) which is sexually transmitted. Darren had caught it through having oral sex. And he’s not alone. New research shows that there has been a dramatic increase in the number of HPV-related oral cancers amongst young people. Actress Jaime Winstone sets out to discover why the statistics are rising and whether anything can be done to stop this trend.

Having met Darren, Jaime wants to know more. She’s sadly got an intimate relationship with cancer as filming began for this programme, her close friend Paul, a DJ, died from pancreatic cancer aged only 26. Whilst his cancer wasn’t preventable, Darren’s was. HPV is recognised as the cause of cervical cancer in women and so two years ago the Government introduced a national vaccination programme for teenage girls. But if a vaccine exists, why isn’t it also given to boys to protect them from developing HPV-related cancers? Although this oral cancer is still relatively rare, the HP virus is common, with an estimated 80% of adults having it, without any symptoms, during their lives.

Jaime is a woman with a mission to understand and her journey takes her to meet Dr Margaret Stanley, a world expert on HPV and Professor Hisham Mehanna, a head and neck specialist at University Hospital, Coventry whose research has shown an increase in HPV-related oral cancers. She talks to teenage boys about what they know of HPV and to teenage girls about why they are reluctant to get the vaccine which is freely available to them, before confronting the Department of Health over why they currently don’t vaccinate boys as well as girls on the NHS.

Is Oral Sex Safe? sets out to lift the lid on this little-known cancer and the dangers that lurk behind oral sex.