Merck's trials on boys are due to be finished this year and they expect no major waves when they go before the FDA in 2009. As for those of us who are adults and have been exposed to the virus this is a mute point.

There are doctors that are giving the Gardasil shots to boys and have been for some time.

Gainsville has a great head and neck center there.

Thank you all for your responses. Shamefully I have been ignoring my tonsil problems as work is busy and I have been planning a vacation over 4th July and wanted to wait until after that to sort this out, but a few days ago I took another look and I think it's worse. The red plaque on my left anterior tonsillar pillar has spread beyond the pillar and there are now several exophytic lumps growing out of my left tonsil as well as one lump from the same tonsil growing down into my throat where I can't see. ALSO, I got retested and still have high risk HPV in another part of my body and it's just not going away...so...I guess I should get a workup soon.

Is it even possible for HPV tonsil cancer to develop in such a short time as 18 months?

To answer your question angel1313, my tonsil has been enlarged anywhere from 2 months (which is when I first noticed) to 18 months (which is when I contracted HPV, though I have not yet had the appropriate workup to tell me that my tonsil problem is HPV-related yet it seems the only plausible cause).

I am going to get in touch with David today as we both live in FL and he has done well with his tx at Moffitt. I do not really want local ENTs here handling my case from the start as I will probably be laughed at and shuffled around (I've had several surgeries and lots of experience with specialists before) and I wonder if it's possible to go directly to a CCC like Moffitt or Shands (johnny47, does Shands in G'ville even have a CCC?) or will they simply look at me like I'm kooky and send me out the door with a referral to see a psychiatrist?

Thanks.

Doctors who are currently giving Gardasil to boys, who are not part of the clinical trials, are doing it "off-label". The whole idea of the clinical trials is to work on efficacy, dose rates, dose rate levels where toxicity is encountered, etc. This can vary between races, age and sexes. Maybe the dose rate they give for girls is too low for boys.

Reverie,
Please get a resolution on this as soon as you can or it will ruin your vacation, just by increasing your worry threshold. Some doctors tend to minimize the OC risk for younger patients yet we have patients, in your age group, come here with low staged cancers and not survive. I am not trying scare you, and it may well be nothing, but in the remote chance that it IS SCC then time is everything.

You are wise to seek out a CCC for Dx and Tx.

Reverie.... To read the description of your left tonsil, it sounds exactly like mine. I just had surgery to remove the left tonsil and a little more in that area and it was biopsied as scc and I have a few lymph nodes involved. I could not get to a ccc but now that I have the diagnosis I plan to try. I think you are very wise in your health decisions. My ENT told me that days matter and that is why he wanted to get the tonsil removed asap and biopsied. Personally I wanted it biopsied first and then staged. But my ENT wouldn't do that. Next week I will find out the staging that will follow. Right now it appears that radiation will begin soon. Just get to a specialist as soon as you can. Good Luck and take care, Angel

Now that I am sufficiently scared because it seems to be getting worse by the day, what should I do? Who should I see? Should I start local or start at a CCC? Most specialists aren't even aware of the oral cancer/HPV link.

If I see my ENT, do I request a biopsy? Is it possible to accurate biopsy and diagnose my tonsil lumps without taking it all out? I don't think I have enough leave for an adult tonsillectomy. As well I hear it is a horrendous procedure.

Angel, is your SCC related to HPV? If SCC of the tonsil is what I have, then mine is definitely related to HPV.

Reverie, I ignored my tonsils for 4 months. I first noticed it when I burnt my mouth on hot pizza followed by a gulp of surprisingly hot coffee. I watched and poked it periodically wondering why it wasn't going away...I had family, work, school, Christmas to deal with...and was very surprised when the doctor gave the "you have cancer" message. The good news is, despite an "agressive and invasive" cancer, it did not spread and I consider myself cured. Of course, I can't help but wonder what would have been had I gone to the doctor right away...

My husband and I have been together for 30 years. My gut feeling is I compromised my health when I worked a very stressful 18 months at 70 hour work weeks. The complexing part is except for some dental issues (root canals), I haven't had as much as a cold in 20 years (the age of my son).

Simple Gifts, did your tonsil look the way I described mine, and what was the process to your diagnosis? Did you have a tonsillectomy or was he able to determine SCC from a less invasive procedure? Can you tell me what I should do to get the fastest and most accurate diagnosis possible given what I suspect it is? Thanks.

Reverie, I can only tell you about what happened to me. I didn't have the option to go to a ccc. I was referred to my ENT by my pcp. He decided to have a cat scan with contrast, and a Pet scan, but he said to begin with that he knew what I had. And so did I. I am sure they have saw just about everything. They took out my left tonsil plus extra tissue in that area on 6-10-08 and was in the hospital thru the 13th of june. I had other health issues. It is hard to swallow and my ear hurts but everything is slowly getting better. Getting a tonsilectomy is no walk in the park for someone my age.(55) Now my Ent says he was going to meet with the cancer board on Friday and everyone would have their input in my case. He had told me I would be getting radiation to kill the cancer in my lymph nodes or any cancer cells that could have been left next unless something changes. I would like to get to a ccc to get another opinion before any more procedures are done if at all possible. Your question regarding the biopsy was an issue for me not being able to get into Emory as they said I needed a biopsy first and then I could make an appt. and talk with them. Also, the Pet scan will have areas that lights up like a christmas tree where there is suspected carcinoma because of the nuclear medicine that is used in the test. The test is a breeze. If Davidcpa reads your info he can give you some great advice. He sought out several Dr.s before making his decision. But my ENT said because of the way mine looked that days did matter so I had to get it done asap. And I mentioned the relationship between HVP/cancer to several of the Dr.s I saw in the hospital and no one knew anything about it. Unbelievable! I ask them to check to see if I have HPV and they did not, so I don't know if my cancer is related to the virus or not yet. Take care and keep us informed as I know how you feel by not knowing your diagnosis as I went through that as well. If there is anything I can answer as to my case I will be glad to answer anything I can. These are wonderful people on this site who have really helped me. Angel