Michael Douglas had caught the attention of the world when he earlier said in an interview that throat cancer was cause by oral sex.
The 68-year old actor was diagnosed with the disease in August 2010 but revealed to The Guardian on June 2 that human papillomavirus or HPV caused his Big C. The HPV is more commonly known for causing genital warts, cervical and anal cancer.
"No. Because without wanting to get too specific, this particular cancer is caused by HPV [human papillomavirus], which actually comes about from cunnilingus," Douglas replied when he was asked if he blames his vice of smoking and drinking. The actor went for rehabilitation for alcohol abuse in the 1990s.
"I did worry if the stress caused by my son's incarceration didn't help trigger it. But yeah, it's a sexually transmitted disease that causes cancer. And if you have it, cunnilingus is also the best cure for it," the star of Fatal Attraction and Basic Instinct continued. Douglas' son is incarcerated for possession and drug dealing.
However, the publicist of the actor now says the Douglas was misquoted.
"No. He [Douglas] did not say oral sex was the cause of his cancer," the publicist of the actor clarified on a story that was published Monday on BBC. The publicist reiterated that the actor with stage four throat cancer did not say that oral sex was the cause of his particular cancer.
The cancer of Douglas is in remission at the moment following treatment.
However, The Guardian did not correct or withdraw its story. The British newspaper released the audio file of the interview with Douglas to support its story.
"This is no surprise to anybody who studies infectious diseases. There is a big increase in HPV-related cancers, and one of the main ones, if not the main one, is throat cancer," explained Dr. Marc Siegel of NYU Langone Medical Center in an interview with WebMD.
Siegel discussed that most adults are prone to getting HPV and cited statistics that 80 percent of individuals may have HPV infection five years after being sexually active.
Dr. Dennis Kraus, and oncologist at North Shore - LIJ Cancer Institute in New York explained that most HPV transmission through oral sex happens from women to men.
"We are living through an HPV epidemic," Kraus noted. "It's much more responsive than any other throat cancer. If the cancer is due to smoking or alcohol, the ballgame is over practically. This is very responsive, which is why I'm not surprised to see that he's [Douglas] cured," the doctor expounded about thyroid cancer caused by HPV. Over to Michael.
