After watching many patients on their paths, after reading voraciously every research article that the disease generates for a decade, I have learned that we do not know enough about oral cancers that come from HPV to speak with ABSOLUTE certainty about it. What we do not know is staggering, given how long this virus has been known.

I try to speak factually, and keep my opinions to myself, as the two (and my gut beliefs) do not aways coincide with each other. My opinions are also colored by conversations with experts like Maura who has many clinical impressions from her treatment and research experience. The woman has epiphanies about this that spin off into her research efforts, which so far have been dead on. I am colored by her insights and best guesses, which are just that- guesses, even if educated.

That a patient could pass a virus to another person or mate, who would also have an immune system that did not recognize it as a threat is certainly possible, but the mathematical odds are low, but certainly not zero.

For all those that read my opinions, Please - read them carefully, I try to state what is fact, and if something is my opinion I try to say that also. I can't count the number of times in my life that I have been wrong. I do my best not to spread innuendo, cause fear, or even create unrealistic hope. We learn something new about the oral cancer and HPV situation literally every week. When I know it, I will pass the relevant things on, often in the news section of the web site first.