Dickinson said some media outlets were "hypocritical" in linking cancer to oral sex
Bruce Dickinson has once again expressed disdain for some media outlets that suggested he got tongue cancer because of oral sex.
The Iron Maiden had a tumor the size of a golf ball on his tongue and another lymph node on the right side of his throat. The cancer may have been caused by the sexually transmitted HPV virus.
Dickinson was treated and cured by 2015 after nine weeks of chemotherapy. HPV is considered a taboo subject, as many people feel uncomfortable discussing sexually transmitted diseases.
“It’s silly that there’s this stigma,” Dickinson said in an interview. “If someone asks you, ‘What kind of cancer did you have?’ and it’s a cervical tumor, nobody’s going to call you dirty or depraved. But the cells are the same. ‘You had sex.’ That’s what people do, otherwise they’d be extinct.”
“Probably 80% of humanity has been exposed to the human papillomavirus [HPV]. What people should be concerned about is finding out why some people get cancer with this virus. Why is there an epidemic in men over 40?” he continued. “There are no tests for men, it’s very simple, they should test them. Like they do the Pap smear for women.”
Dickinson said she wanted to cover her battle with cancer in her 2017 autobiography to raise awareness about the disease. Individuals with HPV-related cancer undergoing treatment have an 85 to 90% chance of being disease-free within five years.
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