[quote=Cheryld]No - if the tumor is HPV - they sometimes forgo surgery becaus HPV related cancer responds well to radiation. Your comments were right regarding surgery not being status quo for HPV related cancers. Go with what your plans are though I would ask your team at moffit why they recommended surgery - maybe they are having more success with it. [/quote]

I don't think there is a status quo right now. UW Madison (CCC) is routinely treating HPV + BOT cancer with surgery followed by radiation, and there seem to be quite a few people with BOT cancer on the forum who have surgery as a primary treatment followed by radiation with or without chemo. The NCCN guidelines don't appear to distinguish treatment options for HPV - v. HPV +, unless they've been updated or I'm missing something. http://oralcancerfoundation.org/treatment/guidelines.htm

53
T3N2aM0 HPV+
5/26/13 discovered painless superball-sized lymph node in neck
6/26/13 DX SCC R palatine tonsil
7/16/13 TORS tonsillectomy & selective ND, mets to 2 nodes
9/3/13 Cisplatin and rads begin, tolerated 1.5 of 3 planned chemo doses
10/16/13 Treatment ends
Dec 13 Ulcer appears at surgery site
Jan 17 Biopsy -- no cancer!
Feb 17 CT/PET Scan lights up tonsil bed & nasal cavity, docs say probably inflammation, don't panic, rescan when ulcer subsides