On the heels of Michael Douglas' admission that his throat cancer may have been caused by the human papillomavirus (HPV), which can be transmitted by oral and genital sex, his ex-wife, Diandra Douglas, told TMZ that she does not have the sexually transmitted infection.
In an interview with The Guardian published Sunday, the actor appeared to suggest that the stage-four throat cancer, with which he was diagnosed in August 2010, was caused by HPV that stemmed from oral sex.
"Without wanting to get too specific, this particular cancer is caused by HPV, which actually comes about from cunnilingus," he said.
However, a representative for the actor issued a statement on Monday denying that HPV definitively led to Douglas' diagnosis.
"In a discussion with the newspaper, they talked about the causes of oral cancer, one of which was oral sex, which is noted and has been known for a while now," Allen Burry said.
About 63 percent of the estimated 11,726 cases of oropharyngeal cancers diagnosed each year in the United States may be caused by HPV, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Other causes include drinking and smoking.
Douglas announced that his cancer was gone in January 2011.
The actor divorced Diandra Douglas in 2000 after 23 years together, and his ex was reportedly awarded $45 million and the couple's Santa Barbara, Calif. estate in the settlement. That didn't stop her from suing her famous ex for half of his earnings from 2010's "Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps," though the suit was ultimately thrown out.
Douglas married actress Catherine Zeta-Jones in November 2000.
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