Is unsafe sex an oblique reference to cervical cancer, or is there some other known connection I’m not aware of?

> The researchers used ‘unsafe sex’ as a proxy for cancer risks associated with human papillomavirus (HPV) and other sexually transmitted viruses. Cervical cancer, which is caused by certain strains of HPV, is the leading cause of cancer deaths among women in sub-Saharan Africa.

HPV also plays into a variety of other cancers (throat/mouth, anal, penile, vaginal). Though cervical cancer has by far the strongest link.

Throat/mouth/neck cancers are actually strongly correlated with smoking, alcohol consumption, and HPV (https://www.cancer.gov/types/head-and-neck)

Was this what struck Michael Douglas?

It's a good thing we have a vaccine for several of the cancer-causing HPV variants now. It's essentially a vaccine against some cancers -- I would get it if you can.

and yet we run into a strong religious resistance because if some skewed logic around HPV vaccine => wanton premartial sex. Once again the patriarchy strikes.

There's quite a long list of viruses which have a knock-on effect of increasing cancer risk, although often by indirect routes. HIV of course damages the human immune system, and one immune function is the detection and elimination of cells that have escaped the normal cell cycle control (i.e. potentially cancerous). Hepatitis damages the liver and (often in conjunction with alcohol use) that can raise chances of cancer. HPV I think has a more direct effect, in that the virus actually can integrate into DNA and potentially (depending on the specific strain) disrupt cell cycle control. Here's a list:

https://www.healthline.com/health/cancer-virus

Probably hpv. Causes a variety of cancers:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_papillomavirus_infection...

There is a pretty strong relationship with HPV and a few different cancers.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5120915/#:~:tex....

HPV causes a wide variety of cancers, and we are learning more all the time. (I'm still furious that this is not a population wide vaccine, and is so limited in its availability.)

Epstein Barr spreads primarily through saliva, and also causes 1-2% of cancer, the last time I checked. So that could spread from unsafe sex, but it could also come from picking up slobbery toddler's toys.

There's a whole world of virus and infectious disease that is only becoming visible because of the huge advances in nucleic acid sequencing and other massive biotech advances. We may find lots of surprises in the coming decades from this new technology.

I would assume they are talking about HPV which causes cervical, oral, and other cancers effecting men and women.

Condoms are at best ~70% effective at preventing HPV transmission so the “unsafe” part doesn’t really strike me as apt. Generally everyone who is sexually active has at least one strain of HPV.

HPV vaccination seems like the optimal strategy. It’s so weird to me that initially it wasn’t even offered to boys.