The number of mouth cancer cases in Britain went above 6000 last year, driven partly by oral sex, new figures suggest
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Oral sex blamed for sharp rise in mouth cancer cases
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The number of cases rose to 6,200 in the last decade, up from 4,400 in 2001. Two-thirds of the cases are in men.
The condition is often linked to smoking and excessive drinking.
But experts have said the dramatic increase is down to a virus called HPV (human papillomavirus) which can be spread during sex.
Richard Shaw, a Cancer Research UK expert in head and neck tumours, said patients with HPV-related oral cancers tend to be younger and less likely to smoke.
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