THE CUNNILINGUS AND CANCER TALE

MICHAEL Douglas' people are denying The Guardian's proof that the Hollywood star had blamed his throat cancer on cunnilingus. But the British newspaper is sticking by their interview and has even posted an audio clip of the conversation with writer Xan Brooks on their website, insisting that Douglas was referring to his own cancer being caused by oral sex.

Michael's spokesman Allen Burry said the 68-year-old actor—who stars in the just-released biopic of Liberace, Behind The Candelabra—had discussed the link between oral cancers and oral sex, among other risk factors, but wasn't referring to his own specific case.

"Michael did not say cunnilingus was the cause of his cancer," Burry explains. "He certainly discussed oral sex in the article, and oral sex is a suspected cause of certain oral cancers, as the doctors in the article did point out. But he did not say this was the specific cause of his personal cancer."

In the audio clip, however, it's obvious that Douglas does say his cancer wasn't a result of hard drinking and heavy smoking, but was instead caused by the human papillomavirus (HPV).

Brooks asks him: "Do you feel, in hindsight, that you overloaded your system? Overloaded your system with drugs, smoking, drink?" And Michael replies, "Without wanting to get too specific, this particular cancer is caused by HPV, which actually comes about from cunnilingus."

"I did worry if the stress caused by my son's incarceration didn't help trigger it. (Cameron Douglas is serving a 10-year prison sentence until 2018 for drug trafficking.) But yeah, it's a sexually transmitted disease that causes cancer. And if you have it, cunnilingus is also the best cure for it," he added helpfully.

Burry insists that Douglas was talking in general, not personal terms. "This is not the cause of his cancer," he reiterates.

But a spokesman for Guardian News & Media notes that while Burry "has claimed that the actor did not say in an interview with The Guardian that his particular cancer was caused by cunnilingus… We have posted the relevant audio and transcript to prove that he did."

"The Guardian firmly denies this charge of misrepresentation,” the paper notes online. "Mr Burry was not present at the (interview); the only two people present were Mr Douglas and The Guardian writer, Xan Brooks."

Burry adds that he hadn't sought a correction from The Guardian. "I'm not asking The Guardian to do anything, I think they did enough already," he says.

Douglas, star of the now-classic thriller Fatal Attraction, revealed in 2010 that he was battling with stage-four cancer, but he beat the disease thanks to a gruelling regime of chemotherapy and radiotherapy.

"I have to check in regularly—now it's every six months—but I'm more than two years clear," he told The Guardian. "And with this kind of cancer, 95% of the time it doesn't come back."

Michael has been applauded by health experts for speaking out about link between throat cancer and oral sex. Brian Hill, executive director of America's Oral Cancer Foundation, praised him to The New York Post, saying, "I'm really quite proud of Michael saying this. This is not an aberrant sexual behaviour. But the willingness to talk about this openly can be difficult."

HPV was long known to cause genital warts and cervical cancer, but recent evidence indicates an increase in anal and oral cancers as well because of the virus. HPV infection is also the cause of 99% of cases of cervical cancer, according to studies cited by Britain's National Health Service.

Source: AFP; Reuters