Same thing that Christine said about the "huge red flag" regarding the doctor not seeing it before. The PET scan will indicate distant disease, lymph nodes. I would not think that surgery would follow the biopsy. Usually HPV folks have radiation and chemo, but they can tell you that better than I can! Biopsy, like David said, then see if it is HPV, then go to a place where they see a lot of it, like MDA. It seems like there are always folks from Georgia in the ENT waiting room there with me.

Very treatable if HPV even if it is "big".
Best,
Anne

SCC tongue 9/2010, excised w/clear margins:8 X 4 mm, 1 mm deep
Neck Met, 10/2010, 1 cm lymph node; 12/21/'10: Neck Diss 30 nodes, 29 clear, micro ECE node, part tongue gloss, no residual scc
IMRT & 6 cisplatin 1/20/11-2/28/11 at MDA
GIST tumor sarcoma, removed 9/2011, no chemo needed
Clear on both counts as of Fall, 2021