Thanks, Brian. I very much appreciate this information. My father's appointment is tomorrow, so we'll have more information then but the initial biopsy report said that it was a "pre-malignant hyper keratosis with mild epithelial dysplasia."

My father is 76 and has never smoked. We'll keep our fingers crossed that this is a situation that can be monitored but maybe doesn't require substantial action at present... My mother has kidney cancer and we've learned a lot about treatments that severely impair quality of life. We've also learned the importance of being educated and proactive in your own care -- so I am all the more grateful to have found this forum.

Thank you.
gwen