Linda,

When I found out I had SCC (3 years ago) Moffitt told me my cancer was called the Old Foggies cancer because the typical victim is some old guy that sits in a bar all day smoking and drinking. I told them I didn't smoke, etc and they said "what difference does it make, you have the cancer". Well of course it made a difference to me and with the help of a poster on this site I was finally able to persuade Moffitt to test me for HPV but not until after my Tx was completed. At that time Moffitt said I was very young to get this cancer. For a while after that it was like you either used tobacco or you tested positive for HPV but I began to see younger and younger people getting this cancer. Now, say within the last year or so, I am seeing a lot of people who don't use tobacco and have tested negative for HPV so it appears that there's something else out there, maybe a different strain of HPV or a new virus or ??, that may be causing SCC. Two months ago I asked my docs at Moffitt and they also said they were seeing "those types" but they didn't offer any new found cause. In fact in Dr Trotti's lecture about OC in March he mentioned just the normal causes.