Not to disagree, but Dr. Gillison has told us that they suspect the lag time between initial HPV infection and appearance of cancer can range from 5-20 years, she told my husband he probably had the infection 10-15 years before his tonsil cancer developed. Now -- I do not know on what this is based, assume work with cervical cancer as the HPV-oral cancer link is relatively new.

As to how long it might be (if the HPV goes "latent") and then reappears, as Brian says, no one knows and it certainly has not been studied long enough to answer this.

Having said that, I spoke last week to a woman who had cervical cancer (treated successfully) 20 years ago and now presents with a tonsillar cancer which is probably HPV+ (being tested at Hopkins).

Gail