in new zealand they say 80 % of tongue cancer(s) are caused by smoking and/or heavy drinking , when my dr told me he said it was from both and i said cant be drinking when i've had maybe a dozen beers in last 8 yrs .( i smoked on average 20 to 25 a day for around 23 yrs ) from signatures i've seen overall very few appear to be ex /smokers particularly here, do you feel it's another rising second hand smoke problem ? alcohol plays a far bigger part than thought ? or just scare tactics from the health boards perspective ?

In the past 2 to 3 years we have seen a good number of non or light smoking and drinking patients that were also HPV negative but had a SCC primary in the forward part of the tongue. I would almost call this a 3rd group with the other 2 groups being HPV positive and HPV negative tobacco related. You are definitely NOT abnormal.

Hi Ross,
Just because smoking status does not appear in the signatures does not mean that there are not a lot of ex smokers here.
I was a heavy smoker and stopped after dx and just before my operation in 2006. So now I am happy to write that I am now a 4 year EX smoker

hi gabe,
good point ! that didnt spring to mind .
i'd given up cold 6 weeks before diagnosed , although had worries that it was to late at the time but still hoped it was JUST an ulcer

Hey Rosalind, My sister was a smoker. She smoked about 15 a day for 25 years. She quit after diagnosis. She never picked a drink up in her life.. Well maybe one or two to try but she hated it..
The hard part is her son told her to quit smoking for years and she never listened. Just imagine how he feels now..

its ross ! lol

Hey Ross
I have read (but can't find the reference) the following tid bits that might interest you.

Smoking is implicated in approx 80% of either head and neck or oral cancers (can't remember which)in countries like Australia, NZ or the US
Drinking AND smoking multiplies the chances of developing oral cancer
Drinking alone has not been definitively linked with oral cancer
Smoking during radiation therapy lessens the beneficial effect of radiation and impacts negatively on survival

So whilst it is likely your cancer is smoking related, it is a good thing you gave up when you did as you have improved your chances of survival even at such a late stage. The reference for smoking and radiation comes from the New England Journal of Medicine by Browman et al way back in 1993. There was also something that was reported in the Science magazines this year that said a similar thing but I have been unable to access the actual trial to check it is solid.

Maybe the reason there are less smokers than you would think on this site is that most who survive to post here have given up, and the ones who haven't given up aren't here. Also consider that older people don't "do the net" which gives us an atypical young group who may also be more afflicted with HPV related cancer. Plus, some of us (me and Alex) just don't put it in our profile because it is embarrassing, or ancient history or just assumed.

Karen

It has never been suggested that we include our smoking/drinking history in our signatures so no one does. However, I think you that it might be safe to assume that those of us who include nothing about HPV or smoking were probably smokers and/or drinkers. No one really pushed the HPV commection until David joined the board.

Take care,
Eileen

ok thanks all, i'm learning all the time and this site is proving great .