I spoke to a third oncologist. He said that recurrence is different with HPV related cancer at the base of the tongue but that they have seen no difference in recurrence if it's on the front (other than the base) of the tongue. He said treatment is the same whether it's HPV related or not. What he's saying goes along with most of the things I have read. Also, my idea of avoiding surgery and just having chemo and radiation doesn't seem like a good one now. One of the radiologists I talked to contacted oncologists at Karmanos Cancer Center in Detroit, Johns Hopkins and the Mayo Clinic for their opinions. The guy really put an effort into getting an good answer. Bottom line they all said that chemo and radiation vs surgery and radiation wasn't even a close call. That surgery followed by radiation is by far the best chance for sucess. They did say that, if the tumor is removed surgically and clear margins are not obtained, then chemo and radiation has a good chance of success. I asked if radiation/chemo to reduce the tumor, followed by surgery would be a way to reduce the impact of the surgery. They said that the radiation does so much damage to the tissue that surgery afterwards becomes much more complicated and, in some cases, impossible. I'm putting this out there in case anyone else is trying to make the same decision I was. Hopefully it helps.