When I read this press release from UCSF, I sent it to Gilison. She an I have long had discussions about her early papers referring to throat cancers vs oral cancers. This is semantic issue. The oropharynx is a location not a thing like a tonsil. It is a space. It is defined by the base of the tongue in the anterior, the tonsils and the tosillar pillars on the left and right, the back wall of the pharynx in the rear and the nasopharynx and soft palate superiorly and the hyoid bone at the bottom. So the question becomes is this part of the oral cavity or the throat. The throat is not a medical term. If you have a cancer above the oropharynx it is in your nasopharynx or below in a location defined by another term etc. This issue of space vs structure is confusing. The UCSF doctor did a disservice to everyone by stating that HPV and oral cancers are not connected to each other. That is not just my opinion, but that of those that have published on this topic greatly. If these are not oral cancers, are we gong to leave the looking for them to ENT's and medical doctors for whom this is certainly not a priority? It is the realm of the dental community and this issue of semantics needs to be spoken to, which Gillison or someone of her caliber will do in a letter to the editor. She and I have already communicated about the need for this. When you see the oropharynx you are looking in your mouth at the space behind the base of your tongue. By any reasonable definition this is in your mouth, anatomical terms aside. Oropharyngeal cancers are all in locations that can be visualized from the anterior oral cavity. That is the important issue to me.