This is only my second post as a new member. I almost certainly acquired HPV-related cancer from oral sex. I am beyond middle age but one of my girlfriends had HPV in 1981; I had never heard of it and had no idea what it was. I may have given it to my wife a few years later and sometime or another (maybe only 12-15 months ago) a tumor at the base of my tongue started to grow. Interestingly, my wife no longer has HPV. According to one site I read (sorry, lost the link), women create 5x more antibodies than men after being infected and this can sometimes kill it.

I am happy that activists are working to get young women to get the HPV vaccine but we need to get young men involved too. The same (lost) site referenced above suggested that the numbers of OC in men will equal the number cervical cancer cases in women in 2020. Thus, this is a serious problem.

One issue that seems to constrain progress is the hesitation to talk about sex by rads and chemo oncologists. Unless that changes, many more people could become infected.

DavidDH

Theres TONS of info about HPV on our main OCF site, the link is below or click on any of highlighted HPV you see thru-out posts. OCF has been at the forefront of funding research to study HPV with Dr Maura Gillison. Much of what is known today about HPV has been discovered thru the hard work and diligence of Dr Gillison. One major recent change to the HPV vaccines (Guardisil), has been to open up the age limit that had been up to only 26 years old to 45 years old.

If people could just get past the current anti-vaccine movement to see the whole picture and understand how important it is to vaccinate our children when they're young. Getting children vaccinated before they are exposed to HPV is optimal, there would be far less people diagnosed years later with HPV caused cancers. As I learned about OC, i also learned about HPV and the vaccine to stop cancers caused by the HPV virus. Just like the chicken pox vaccine, I waited at the time what seemed like forever to get my kids the shots so to avoid getting chicken pox. Since my children were teenagers I sat down and fully explained what I knew about HPV and the vaccine and let them help make the decision to get the shots. Back then it was 3 shots a few months apart but last I heard its now only 2 doses.

Heres more about HPV from reputable websites .....


Main OCF Site, Understanding

CDC, HPV info

NIH, HPV