Ordeal ... Hollywood actor Michael Douglas with his wife Catherine Zeta Jones
ACTOR Michael Douglas has revealed his life-threatening cancer was caused by oral sex.
In a candid confession, the Basic Instinct star said he was told his throat cancer was triggered after he contracted the human papillomavirus (HPV) — the most common form of sexually transmitted disease.
It had been widely thought the 68-year-old Hollywood star’s years of drinking and smoking were to blame for the stage four cancer, which was first diagnosed in 2010.
But in a new interview Douglas — married since 2000 to British actress Catherine Zeta Jones, 43 — said oral sex had caused the disease.
Asked if he now regretted his years of smoking and drinking, he replied: “No. Because without wanting to get too specific, this particular cancer is caused by HPV, which actually comes about from cunnilingus.”
He went on to say that oral sex was also the best cure — a claim doctors deny.
Douglas, currently starring as gay showman Liberace in Behind The Candelabra, was diagnosed with mouth cancer when doctors spotted a tumour the size of a walnut on his tongue — after other specialists had missed it.
He lost more than 45lbs following chemotherapy and radiation treatment — but has been cancer-free for two years.
In the early 1990s — while starring in erotic thriller Basic Instinct with Sharon Stone — he was reported to have been treated for sex addiction. He claimed he was in rehab for alcohol abuse.
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By CAROL COOPER, Sun Doctor
THERE is not nearly enough awareness that you can catch HPV from oral sex.
Women can easily get it from men too. In most cases the immune system will clear it away. But in others, it can cause major problems.
Some types cause cervical cancer while others can cause viral warts.
But increasingly HPV is implicated in mouth and throat cancer — linked to oral sex becoming mainstream.
There is already a vaccine for girls. We should consider giving it to boys as well.
Read more: http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/showbiz/4952322/Michael-Douglas-says-oral-sex-gave-him-cancer.html#ixzz2VG7QTXEq