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Had Oral Sex With Different Men. Need For HPV Screening Related To Cancer?
Question: For a year in college (I'm a 37 year old female) I had oral sex fairly often. I would say roughly 15 to 20 different men (no women). I, however, was not sexually active in any other way, at all. I'm wondering if I need to look into any HPV screening related to oral/throat cancer or if there is any such thing. If there is and I do need to, where do I start?
Brief Answer:
No screening recommended
Detailed Answer:
Hello and thank you for sending your question.
This is a very good question. At this time there are no recommendations for screening including imaging studies or Procedures to assess for risk of development of cancer related to HPV.
As you have correctly indicated there is a connection between number of sexual partners and risk for development of HPV related illness. It is really impossible to assess your overall risk because we do not know the HPV status of your previous partners. I would say that if you have no symptoms then additional studies are not warranted. This would only subject you to unnecessary radiation and procedures.
If you absolutely need to have some degree of reassurance I would recommend that you seek a consultation with an ear nose and throat specialist. This particular doctor can discuss the possibility of using a tiny camera to look in the back of your throat and in the upper part of your esophagus. Again there are no guidelines which really support this type of exam in this would be at the discretion of that specialist.
Thank you again for sending your question.
Dr. Galamaga
No screening recommended
Detailed Answer:
Hello and thank you for sending your question.
This is a very good question. At this time there are no recommendations for screening including imaging studies or Procedures to assess for risk of development of cancer related to HPV.
As you have correctly indicated there is a connection between number of sexual partners and risk for development of HPV related illness. It is really impossible to assess your overall risk because we do not know the HPV status of your previous partners. I would say that if you have no symptoms then additional studies are not warranted. This would only subject you to unnecessary radiation and procedures.
If you absolutely need to have some degree of reassurance I would recommend that you seek a consultation with an ear nose and throat specialist. This particular doctor can discuss the possibility of using a tiny camera to look in the back of your throat and in the upper part of your esophagus. Again there are no guidelines which really support this type of exam in this would be at the discretion of that specialist.
Thank you again for sending your question.
Dr. Galamaga
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Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
Answered by
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