Yesterday I sat on a panel at Moffitt where the topic of the presentation was Head & Neck Cancer and HPV. About 150 doctors and even some patients attended. On the panel was was my Dr Trotti, an RO, Dr DeConti, an MO, Dr Savell, Anatomic Pathology and myself a CPA. Hey I got letters too! After the presentation Moffitt hosted a reception and the whole show lasted almost 4 hours. I gave away a ton of my OCF business cards and OCF brochures and a lot of people were seen wearing our pins which I placed next to the brochures. I got 2 invites to speak at support groups. Leaving Moffitt at 5pm which is way on the other side of Tampa which means I had to go thru Tampa to get home during rush hour was not fun especially since I only have one stoplight in between my office and my home but man was it worth it to get OCF's name out there.

Three things I learned:

1. Moffitt plans to go back and test all the slides they have where the primary was in the Oropharynx for HPV. Trotti said that was over 200 samples. They currently test all new patients for HPV that fit the profile.

2. Dr Trotti gave me details about his planned study in reducing the radiation (60 instead of 70) and Carbo in lieu of Cisplatin in HPV patients in hopes of seeing if we can reduce the side effects and still kill the cancer. Study will involve 650 patients and is already past the preliminary stage.

3. Dr Savell said that as long as there are good tissue samples he can test for HPV regardless of age. Moffitt has theirs going back beyond 2004.

David

Age 58 at Dx, HPV16+ SCC, Stage IV BOT+2 nodes, non smoker, casual drinker, exercise nut, Cisplatin x 3 & concurrent IMRT x 35,(70 Gy), no surgery, no Peg, Tx at Moffitt over Aug 06. Jun 07, back to riding my bike 100 miles a wk. Now doing 12 Spin classes and 60 outdoor miles per wk. Nov 13 completed Hilly Century ride for Cancer, 104 miles, 1st Place in my age group. Apr 2014 & 15, Spun for 9 straight hrs to raise $$ for YMCA's Livestrong Program. Certified Spin Instructor Jun 2014.