HPV is rarely involved in tumors of the outer (oral, or movable) section of the tongue --I recall someone did a study and it was about 2.5%, as opposed to about 40% of base-of-tongue cancers (one recent study found 60%). However I would not be surprsied that chronic irritation or inflammation can be involved. I heard a very interesting paper once by a specialist in the progression of prostate cancer and he showed how chronic infection (such as prostatitis) can induce a cascade of cellular changes that in a percentage of men, ended up as cancer. Not the only cause, of course, but one of them.

Gail