Award-winning actor Michael Douglas revealed that his throat cancer apparently was caused by contracting HPV during oral sex, The Guardian reports.
Mr. Douglas, most recently noted for playing Liberace in ”Behind the Candelabra,” said that his years of smoking and drinking were not the cause of the disease.
“Because without wanting to get too specific,” he told The Guardian, “this particular cancer is caused by HPV [human papillomavirus], which actually comes about from cunnilingus.”
Mr. Douglas, the husband of actress Catherine Zeta-Jones, continued: “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 “Basic Instinct” actor, now 68, is more than two years clear of cancer, The Guardian reports.
“And with this kind of cancer, 95 percent of the time it doesn’t come back,” he added.
SEE ALSO: Michael Douglas: Actor didn’t blame sex for throat cancer, rep says
Dr. Mahesh Kumar, a consultant head and neck surgeon in London, is skeptical of Mr. Douglas’ claims that his cancer was caused solely by HPV and that oral sex could help cure it.
“Maybe he thinks that more exposure to the virus will boost his immune system. But medically, that just doesn’t make sense,” Dr. Kumar told The Guardian.
• Jessica Chasmar can be reached at jchasmar@washingtontimes.com.
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