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Sexual Health and Cancer
Aaron Dunn, 04.08.08
If you're diagnosed with HPV, that doesn't mean you have cancer. |
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April is Cancer Control Month. Chances are you know someone with cancer. In the United States, almost half of all men and one in three women develop cancer in their lifetime. According to the American Cancer Society, an estimated 1.4 million Americans will be diagnosed with cancer in 2008. Cancer is the nation's second-leading cause of death, killing more than 500,000 people every year.
There are many different types of cancer, and just as many causes — everything from genetic conditions inherited at birth to chemicals in the environment. But what does sexual health have to do with cancer? Are there any connections between things like abortion, birth control pills, sexually transmitted infections, and cancer?
Can you get cancer from having sex?
Sex and Cancer
Sex itself does not cause cancer. In fact, researchers have found that increasing sexual activity can decrease risk for certain types of cancer. Rates of breast cancer, for example, are lower among women who are sexually active and who have never had a child. And the more frequently a man ejaculates, the less likely he is to develop prostate cancer.
Where sex and cancer do sometimes come together is in an infection called human papilloma virus (HPV). HPV, the world's most common sexually transmitted infection (STI), is spread through vaginal and anal intercourse and other direct skin-to-skin contact with an infected person. There are many types of HPV; most are relatively harmless, but a few genital HPV strains can lead to cancer of the cervix, and may play a role in cancers of the anus, penis, vagina, or vulva.
Most HPV infections leave the body on their own without doing any damage. But if you are a woman over 21 or if you are younger and have been sexually active for three years, you should have periodic Pap tests to see if anything abnormal is going on in the cells of the cervix. Early detection can prevent the development of cancer.
Your best option in terms of prevention (in addition to using a condom) is the HPV vaccine. The vaccine is recommended for girls before they become sexually active, but it may also benefit women who are already sexually active. The vaccine prevents the types of HPV that cause most of the cases of cancer and is given through a series of three shots over a six-month period. At the moment it's FDA-approved for girls and young women ages nine to 26, but it could be available to guys by 2009.
Abortion and Cancer
Certain anti-abortion groups have tried to convince people that abortion causes breast cancer. The fact is, abortion does not cause or increase the risk of breast cancer and is in no way associated with any type of cancer. The case was closed in 2003 when the U.S. government reviewed numerous studies conducted over the years that looked for links between abortion and cancer. The federal review determined that abortion is not associated with an increase in breast cancer risk.
Birth Control and Cancer
Several forms of prescription birth control, including the pill, the patch, and the ring, prevent pregnancy by releasing hormones into the bloodstream. The hormones estrogen and progestin stop ovulation from occurring. Without ovulation, there's no egg available for sperm to fertilize. No fertilization, no pregnancy.
Studies have shown that use of any of these three forms of birth control reduces the risk of ovarian and endometrial cancers. Ovarian cancer is cancer that originates in a woman's ovaries, where her eggs are produced. Endometrial cancer occurs in the endometrium, which is the thin lining on the inside of the uterus.
On the flip side, you may have heard claims linking the pill to breast cancer. The most recent medical literature suggests that the pill has little, if any, effect on the risk of developing breast cancer. |
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