I have to jump in on the HPV positive being slow growing .
Unfortunately not. Kris was HPV P16 positive. He had Cisplatin. He had recurrence 10 months later.
There appear to be subsets of HPV, 4 if my memory is correct. One subset acts like HPV negative and does not respond as well to chemo and rads.
Kris must have been in this subset.
I do not know whether they are teasing out these subsets for each patient prior to commencing treatment. I hope that this will eventually occur.
Tammy

Caregiver/advocate to Husband Kris age 59@ diagnosis
DX Dec '10 SCC BOT T4aN2bM0 HPV+ve.Cisplatin x3 35 IMRT.
PET 6/11 clear.
R) level 2-4 neck dissection 8/1/11 to remove residual node - necrotic with NED
Feb '12 Ca back.. 3/8/12 total glossectomy/laryngectomy/bilat neck dissection/partial pharyngectomy etc. clear margins. All nodes negative for disease. PEG in.
March 2017 - 5 years disease free. Woohoo!