Brian and others,

If you read my post, I did not advocate a lesser treatment if you test positive for HPV, I only repeated what my very well respected and published RO told me at my last appointment. I also stated that I did not get to ask him a ton of questions about his remarks. He also told me that Moffitt may be trying to get a study on this topic funded but he said that, particularly in the US, it's hard to find participants willing to get less treatment compared to others getting the "full blown" treatment so we may not see the kind of study necessary to draw verifiable conclusions on this topic as Brian says for years. Even knowing what I know now, I doubt that I would want to be in a study that I might be the one that didn't get the full blown Tx when my life is at risk.

I still stand by what I said re ND's although I can't put my hand on the article I read that gave me that statement and this is the practice currently at Moffitt bearing in mind that there may be a million different variables that can come into that decision.

I was told by 2 different cancer docs that a ND was required before I was to get concurrent chemorad. One doc said I needed a Radical and the next said Partial. Then Moffitt said "we don't see any benefit to removing your nodes because some studies have concluded that there is no improved survival after 5 years with a ND vs no ND." Size of the nodes does play a large part in that decision. Moffitt also said that there was always the option to do a ND post Tx and explained the associated risks. Now, will I ever know that Moffitt was correct? Probably not, but so far I'm glad I got several opinions before I started my Tx.

As far as getting tested for HPV, it is very true that the only way for a male currently to be tested is to use the same cells that tested positve for SCC but my comments re testing were contained in a post that the male poster had already been confirmed as SCC+ so I assumed readers would make that obivious connection.

IMHO, before the scientific community can know all they can about the differences between HPV+ and HPV- SCC they need to seperate the 2 pools as much as humanly possible and until everyone DXed with SCC gets tested for HPV, that obvious goal can not be acheived.

Do I know eveything there is to know about HPV+ SCC? Of course not. Do I know enough to be dangerous? Yes and that's why I try to steer potential HPV candidates to get the test and get informed.

I'm not trying to get anyone off on a tangent, I'm merely trying to bring a much needed awareness to not only the public but especially to people lucky enough to find this site that HPV is a separate, biologically distinct and mutually exclusive cause of SCC and your treating doctors may need to take that into consideration whether they know that now or not. If they are not "up on" current HPV+ SCC research, they should be encouraged to consult with the likes of Dr Maura Gillison.

With all that said, I am not a doctor and Brian knows much much more about this cancer than I'll probably ever know but dealing with the law as I have for my entire career, I try to choose my words carefully so as not to mislead people that may read what I say. So please, when reading all posts, do not over interpret what the poster is attempting to say.

Respectively submitted and always searching for the truth.