Now I;m getting confused between HPV 's relation to oral cancer instead of the subset of oropharyngeal cancer In following the news releases on Gardasil for me, this article popped up from USCF:
�The evidence shows that the association between HPV and oropharyngeal cancer is strong,� says UCSF oral surgeon and cancer researcher Brian Schmidt, DDS, MD, PhD. �However, there is little to no association between HPV and oral cancer. The sites are commonly confused.� Oropharyngeal cancer may affect the tonsils or the base of the tongue. Cancer of the oral cavity may affect the rest of the tongue, the floor of the mouth, the gingiva and the palate.
Here is the link to the news article: HPV causes Oropharyngeal not oral cancer
I know David and Brian will have the answers and it is moot to me since I did have oropharyngeal cancer but most of the articles I see in the OCF reader do not make such a fine distinction.

What you have posted above is correct. As far as I have read, there have never been any HPV+ cancers found any place other than the base of tongue, tonsils and oropharynx.

When we talk about oral cancer, here on the forum, we are including these areas in the same group with cancers of the mobile tongue, floor of the mouth, palate and gingiva, etc.

I think that the confusion you have is all based on a matter of symantics.

I hope this clears it up for you.

Maybe Brian or David will have something to add.

Jerry

Wilckdds

Thanks for the quick reply. I often interact with rather tendentious individuals [birds of a feather ... ;)] and subtle semantic differences like this are the tools of the trade.
I like to speak and write with precision when possible.

When I read this press release from UCSF, I sent it to Gilison. She an I have long had discussions about her early papers referring to throat cancers vs oral cancers. This is semantic issue. The oropharynx is a location not a thing like a tonsil. It is a space. It is defined by the base of the tongue in the anterior, the tonsils and the tosillar pillars on the left and right, the back wall of the pharynx in the rear and the nasopharynx and soft palate superiorly and the hyoid bone at the bottom. So the question becomes is this part of the oral cavity or the throat. The throat is not a medical term. If you have a cancer above the oropharynx it is in your nasopharynx or below in a location defined by another term etc. This issue of space vs structure is confusing. The UCSF doctor did a disservice to everyone by stating that HPV and oral cancers are not connected to each other. That is not just my opinion, but that of those that have published on this topic greatly. If these are not oral cancers, are we gong to leave the looking for them to ENT's and medical doctors for whom this is certainly not a priority? It is the realm of the dental community and this issue of semantics needs to be spoken to, which Gillison or someone of her caliber will do in a letter to the editor. She and I have already communicated about the need for this. When you see the oropharynx you are looking in your mouth at the space behind the base of your tongue. By any reasonable definition this is in your mouth, anatomical terms aside. Oropharyngeal cancers are all in locations that can be visualized from the anterior oral cavity. That is the important issue to me.

My understanding is that the ORAL CAVITY includes the Hard Palate, Floor of the mouth and the Tongue. The PHARYNX includes all the pharyns', Naso, Oro, Larngo and the Esophagus. Both of these are usually lumped together as Head and Neck Cancers. So as Brian and Jerry have said it's just semantics and it should have been better explained without leaving that sentence hanging out there.

Thanks guys for helping to clarify the issue further as I knew you would.

Jerry

Considering the NIH definitions, it is understandable why the UCSF researcher is making the distinction that he is. Also isn't it just now becoming apparent that HPV-OC is likely actually only a throat cancer?

NIH Definition of throat cancer(also called pharyngeal cancer):

Cancer that forms in tissues of the pharynx (the hollow tube inside the neck that starts behind the nose and ends at the top of the windpipe and esophagus).

Throat cancer includes:
Cancer of the nasopharynx (the upper part of the throat behind the nose),

the oropharynx (the middle part of the pharynx), and the hypopharynx (the bottom part of the pharynx).

Cancer of the larynx (voice box) may also be included as a type of throat cancer.
_____________________

Definition of oral cancer:
Cancer that forms in tissues of the lip or mouth. This includes:

the front two thirds of the tongue,

the upper and lower gums, the lining inside the cheeks and lips,

the bottom of the mouth under the tongue,

the bony top of the mouth, and

the small area behind the wisdom teeth.

The point being (while I certanly won't argue with the nih about anatomy), that the guy at UCSF did everyone a disservice by saying that HPV and oral cancer are not connected, based on semantics. The ADA, and just about every other professional society that is engaged in the mouth as an area of responsibility, would say that while this guy was anatomically correct, he did great disservice to those trying to get a handle on this, as Medicine is not going to be opportunistically looking for oral cancers or cancers of the oropharynx. If you think dentistry has dropped the ball, find me an MD that does opportunistic screenings. That would probably be less than 5% of all of them. I wrote a long letter to the school and to the individual doctor about all this this AM, and asked Gillison and others to set him straight on what the real world needs to hear. This issue has been in the media for 8 years as an oral cancer, and now this one person wants to change the notes of the song we are all singing to the public. Anatomically a correct statement, OK, but confusing statement to the public? You bet.

As to stating that this is "only a throat cancer".... well then who is going to be responsible for it an champion this growing disease etiology? If we do not consider it part of our realm then who?