A father-of-two was left horrified when doctors told him his ‘sore throat’ was caused by a form of cancer linked to oral sex.
Jeff Bradford, 62, from Moray in Scotland, was working as a part-time personal trainer and renovating a gym when he first developed the tickly sensation in March 2016.
He said: ‘I wore a mask but a couple of days later I had a sore throat.
‘I thought it was just irritation from the dust, but I couldn’t shake it.’
When the discomfort persisted for two weeks and wasn’t soothed by over-the-counter remedies, he returned to his GP who told him it was ‘classic tonsillitis’.
Antibiotics failed to improve his symptoms and he returned to his GP where he was given stronger antibiotics, and another doctor taking a throat swab and photographs.
He was referred to Aberdeen Royal Infirmary shortly afterwards.
During the consultation, specialists warned that the appearance of the throat lesion ‘looked very sinister’ and arranged an urgent biopsy.
Mr Bradford said: ‘I wasn’t nervous at all. It never crossed my mind it could be cancer. We even planned to go out for lunch after the appointment.
‘I was shocked when they said they thought it could be cancer, but things moved very quickly after that.’
During the surgery, doctors discovered the tumour had already grown significantly, reaching the size of a thumb. It was removed during a four-hour operation.
Mr Bradford was later told he had stage three oropharyngeal cancer linked to HPV16 – a common virus that is usually harmless and often cleared by the immune system, but in some cases can remain dormant for years before triggering cancer.
‘I was totally shocked when they said it was linked to HPV and could be associated with oral sex,’ he said.
‘They told me it may have been in my body for decades.
‘It just stays dormant sometimes, and something like a minor infection can allow it to take hold.
‘Driving back 80 miles home, my wife and I never spoke a word,’ he said.
Human papillomavirus, or HPV, is an extremely common virus spread through skin-to-skin contact.
While often harmless, it can lead to serious diseases and is known to cause a number of cancers, including those affecting the head and neck, anus and penis, and cervical cancer in women.
Cases of head and neck cancers have been rising in recent years.
Mouth ulcers that don’t heal, a hoarse voice and unexplained lumps in the mouth are all warning signs of mouth cancer
Head and neck cancer is an umbrella term covering cancers of the throat, mouth, voice box, nose, sinuses and salivary glands.
Research has linked a significant proportion of oropharyngeal cancers – affecting the back of the throat, tonsils and base of the tongue – to HPV infection.
While the virus is usually harmless, it is spread through close contact, including sexual activity, and can in rare cases lead to cancer years or even decades later.
Experts say warning signs can include a persistent sore throat, mouth ulcers that do not heal, hoarseness, or unexplained lumps in the neck.
After undergoing chemotherapy and 35 sessions of radiotherapy later that year, Mr Bradford was left severely weakened, spending months recovering at home.
‘Radiotherapy was brutal,’ he said. ‘It caused severe burns. It felt like my neck had been scorched. I was bedridden for months afterwards.’
Eventually, he completed treatment and was later declared cancer-free.
Now, 10 years on, he is urging others not to ignore persistent symptoms.
‘If something doesn’t go away after two weeks, get it checked and keep pushing if you’re not satisfied,’ he said.
‘I had no idea something like this could come from a virus linked to something so common in everyday life.
‘It’s just normal life – people don’t think about it.’
Last week, a new study suggested that vaccinating boys against HPV – as girls are – could slash their risk of developing cancer by nearly half.
Researchers found that males given the latest version of the jab were significantly less likely to develop a range of cancers linked to the virus, including head, neck and penile cancers.
The study, published in JAMA Oncology, analysed health records from more than three million young men.
Men who received the version of the HPV vaccine which protects against nine strains of the virus, had a 46 per cent lower risk of HPV-related cancers overall.
The protective effect was seen across both younger teenagers and young adults.
In real terms, the risk dropped from around 12.5 cases per 100,000 in unvaccinated males to 7.8 per 100,000 among those who had the jab.
