Jerry,

Google found this:

http://cat.inist.fr/?aModele=afficheN&cpsidt=16268451

From the Abstract:

"HPV was significantly more common in base of tongue tumors (10/25, 40.0%) compared to tumors of the mobile tongue (2/85, 2.3%)."

Not sure where I originally read this though. And I could be completely misunderstanding - I am NOT a medical professional, after all

I've never for one moment asked "why me?" The history of my own cancer seems so clear cut and simple. We've always heard the "sore that doesn't heal" warning. I developed "lichen planus" about 12 years ago on the right side of my tongue - right where it laid against an amalgam that had just been replaced. A dermatologist sent me for allergy testing last year, and sure enough, I'm very sensitive to the Mercury in the amalgam, and Nickel in the base of my crowns. So... let's get it out, right? The dentist who removed that amalgam told me immediately that it was "not right - too soft and too shiny." Turns out they used to mix this stuff manually and didn't always get the mix right. So, now we see that this lichen planus is really a contact dermatitis, that finally went "bad" and turned cancerous.

I don't smoke, don't drink, and don't have HPV. I asked my doc how much would it take to add a simple screening tool on the pages that all new cancer patients complete. He's a respected researcher - his reply was, "I'm an immunologist." I begged him to go home and talk to his wife - who is the doctor in the dermatology clinic where my patch test was done.

What I find so frustrating is the unwillingness of the medical folks to even consider other possible environmental causes. As my friend, Freya Koss, has testified, why is it that the only safe place for Mercury seems to be in my mouth? I realize that the ADA is likely petrified of liability issues, and they have "dug in" to state that mercury amalgam is entirely safe. And yet... and yet... do you know they recapture that amalgam that is removed from old fillings? Too toxic for the waste system.

Anyway, all this information was too little too late for me. By the time the tests were done, and fillings removed, the sore had turned cancerous. However, the white spots are now gone.

it is just our nature to ask why. just ask any 4 year old, their entire vocabulary is "but why?... why?...why?"

i like the quote:
sometimes we'll find the answer,
sometimes we wont,
sometimes we think we have the answer,
when clearly we dont.

its a natural curiosity that resides in us all. the quest for knowledge, after all...knowledge is power.

interesting about the filling - i totally forgot my original 'ulcer' was right next to the only filling i have and its a metal one...

wow. I had one filling in my mouth, a metal one right where my tumor was. I developed leukoplakia around that tooth and down the side of my cheek where the tumor eventually took up.

That's incredibly interesting.

I too developed lichen planus a decade or so ago and was also declared allergic to mercury and amalgam itself. Not to nickel as far as I can remember. Replacing the fillings had no effect on the lichen planus on the left side of my tongue and after a couple of years I was finally biopsied and found to have SCC. This was in 2007. I think I was told that either I was one of the very few whose lichen planus turned nasty OR it had never been lichen planus. (However, in the pathology report from my recent recurrance surgery a lichenoid reaction was found in some of the tissue.)

I have written my story in my blog.

I would be very cautious about attributing my cancer to my amalgam fillings. There doesn't appear to be any scientific evidence. My bitterness if any is caused by the failure of an oral surgeon to biopsy me when I went to him with a very sore localised patch of lichen planus. An oral medicine specialist I later visited (an old man) said that he tells people to biopsy all patients with lichen planus like mine - just to make sure.

On the other hand, like many of my generation of New Zealanders I had a mouthful of amalgam fillings. Maybe I was more sensitive than most? I started to have mouth inflammation problems in my 30s.

Being a CPA, I like things that fit into a box or fits the answer A, B or C so now I kinda feel lucky that I tested positive for HPV and I can label that as my cause. I feel frustrated for the new breed that are HPV-, non smoking with primaries in the tongue especially the ones like me that HAD to know.

After being around the research types for a few years now and seeing what goes into planning a study and getting funding for it, I realize that it would be almost impossible to even plan a study around the possible causes mentioned above in the last few posts.

[quote=Alpaca] I would be very cautious about attributing my cancer to my amalgam fillings. There doesn't appear to be any scientific evidence.

Well, maybe I am just simple-minded or something. But this just screams to me "well, then, let's look for evidence!"

This is what I asked my surgeon to do - start with a screening tool. Don't just stand there looking at your feet!

My *former* dentist told me that I am "just one person." Well, I have a hunch that there are a whole lot more just like me! We just need to find them.

To all my OCF Family....Happy, Happy New Year 2010 ! All my best wishes to us all for Health, Happiness, Prosperity, Healing and Clean & Clear Test Results...forever more !!!

Linda

It is frustrating to know that certain avenues of cancer will never be explored because the only people who are qualified to explore it have concluded there is nothing to explore. See this recent article in April 2009
Amalgam Fillings Safe
I have amalgam fillings older than many of the young posters here - yes I mean you EricS & Suzanne - They really never wear out unlike the composites. When I had three crowns done after the first radiation, my prothodontist was amazed at how amalgam fillings done over 40 years ago looked brand new as he removed them to prepare for the crowns. Since he only puts in composites, he had assumed these old fillings would have broken down like the composites. He replaced them anyway.
Happy New Year
charm