If you have him contact me I will make the introductions to Dr. Gillison for him and the two can exchange information and ideas, she is the source water for most of the recent data. Actually HPV 16/18 accounts for more than 95% of all cervical cancers. As to its involvement in the oral cavity, it appears that in tonsillar and oropharangeal cancer it is a causative agent, and there is news story up recently in the OCF news section about the fact that these particular cancers are very different from SCC in other parts of the mouth and in the demographics of those who get them. It is a unique subset disease in actuality, and appears to have different long term outcomes and recurrence rates. This does not mean that HPV 16, 18, and perhaps 33 are not factors in other oral cancers, even in smokers. They are probably resident in as many as 70% of the population of all oral cancers though in smokers they appear to act as facilitators and co factors rather than causative agents. What all this means is there is the potential for a real world HPV test of the tonsillar pillar and the oropharanyx like that used in the cervical region. Gillison is working on this now.

HPV can be shed by some individuals, and having at one point tested positive for it, they may be free of it on a subsequent tests months later. The issue is reinfection through sexual partners which is why this is so prevalent today.

I might add that the precancerous lesions that occur on the cervix and which are visible there, are the exact same ones that occur in the mouth, leukoplakia and erythroplakia as the main ones. So early diagnosis via an annual oral exam, actually no different than that for cervical cancer (visual, tactile, and if a suspicious area is found, brush biopsy or incisional biopsy) is possible. Oral cancer death rates would decline due to discovery as stage one and two cancers just as cervical cancer did in the early 50's if there were a national program of opportunistic screenings of all individuals, (opportunistic meaning those without any symptoms or reason to feel something was wrong) we wouold have the same reduction in death rates enjoyed by cervical cancer, which was about 70% over the first ten years that women began to get annual exams.