Hi Brian: I am interested in your posts and your knowledge of HPV. My doctors all said that I would have the virus in me forever, which makes me of course worried about recurrence. I was told that millions have the virus, but that it is rare to get cancer from it, that the virus weakens our body's ability to supress a tumor, and that it is spread through oral-genital contact, at least when it manifests as oral cancer. (I always wondered if there is any pattern emerging that would tell us how long the virus is in us before the tumor emerges.) Does the information I have been given jive with what you know? -Michelle ...PS Thank you for this amazing forum. I don't know what I would have done - what I would do - without it.


SCC left tonsil, stage IV, HPV+, metastatic to one lymph node. Biopsy 12/23/10; tonsillectomy 1/13/11; DX 1/25/11; Peg in 1/28/11. Peg out 6/29. TX 1/31/11-3/21/11: 35 IMRT plus 3 Cisplatin. Pet-Scan 6/20/11 = CLEAR! Three years out, learning to live with the long-term side effects of radiation while reminding myself to feel blessed.