Most of the medical community are not even aware of these additional HPV types found on the tongue cancers, let alone thinking about changing protocols related to them. We have seen a number of tongue cancer patients who are non smokers and appear to be HPV negative respond poorly to treatments. However there is no data that shows that they were tested for these other HPV types, and we don't have any data on how these other HPV type respond to treatment.

Karen and David have good questions. I tend to believe that none of us would benefit from being vaccinated after an HPV16 oral cancer. However, I like the Australian doctors ideas. Just musing on it (as an unscientific approach in logic) could you fool the immune system into looking for this protein with the vaccine, and destroy any possible HPV 16 that was combined with it in your system now or in the future? I have no clue, and since recurrences in HPV patients are few, what value this might be, except to quell our fear of things that go bump in the night, by feeling that we have done everything that we can. (counting on a psychological placebo effect)