Hpv

What is this connection I keep hearing about between the HPV virus and men's tonsil cancer? I didn't even know what HPV was until I readt it somewhere. Now that I have tonsil cancer, should my wife and I be tested for something? She has regular ob/gyn checks w/ pap-smears and the dr. has never said anything was abnormal. After reading this stuff, now we are worried about resuming our normal sex life for fear of passing something back and forth.

Anyone have any information on this subject?

Thanks,

Rick

I am female and my tonsil cancer was caused by HPV. The lining of the throat is similar to the lining of the cervix, and that what HPV likes. Tumors caused by the HPV virus have a better prognosis than other tumors. This has put a slight damper on my sex life. Needless to say I think EVERY young person--not just females---should get the vaccination.

Thanks. But I'm still confused. I'm a 51 year old male, married 21 years. As far as I know, neither of us has cheated. If that is the case, how could I get HPV? Can it be dormant for so many years? Can it be contracted other ways?

Thanks

Hi

I have HPV - had it all my life. What vaccination are you talking about or is it too late for me? Maybe my kids can have it as I seem to have got my HPV from grandmother...

Thank you

Yana

 

On 12/24/2007 rick51 wrote:

Thanks. But I'm still confused. I'm a 51 year old male, married 21 years. As far as I know, neither of us has cheated. If that is the case, how could I get HPV? Can it be dormant for so many years? Can it be contracted other ways?

Thanks

HPV has been around longer than 21 years, so I would think one of you brought this into the relationship many years ago. It can lay dormant many years(as mine did). It is contracted through sexual contact, although there are a few instances where I saw that some people thought it could be caught through skin-to-skin contact(such as a handshake with someone who has warts--that is not a commonly held thought, though). It is estimated that 75% of the population now has the virus. Some people's immune systems are able to clear the virus.

 

On 12/25/2007 YanaMom wrote:

Hi

I have HPV - had it all my life. What vaccination are you talking about or is it too late for me? Maybe my kids can have it as I seem to have got my HPV from grandmother...

Thank you

Yana

Yes, you are too old for the vaccine. It is called Giardisil. It is being targeted at young girls before they become sexually active. In my opinion it should also be given to young boys as well. HPV tumors of the oral and throat area do not discriminate between male and female. Diagnosis of HPV caused head and neck cancers are going to become more commonplace unfortunately. Many ENT's and dentists are still not aware of the link. It delayed my diagnosis by about 3 years.

 

I agree. ENT and other Dr's need to be more aware of it. I saw 3 ent dr's that told me since I do not use tobacco that all I had was a benign cyst. I finally insisted they remove it and were shocked it was cancer. This is going to spread and get worse until society decides boys need it as well as girls.

 

 

On 12/25/2007 rick51 wrote:

I agree. ENT and other Dr's need to be more aware of it. I saw 3 ent dr's that told me since I do not use tobacco that all I had was a benign cyst. I finally insisted they remove it and were shocked it was cancer. This is going to spread and get worse until society decides boys need it as well as girls.

 

Sounds familiar. I saw 3 ENT's, my OBGYN, and my PCP. I was told I had a cryptic or infected tonsil, even after a CT scan. My CT scan report written 10 months prior to my diagnosis reads No Evidence of Malignancy.......

When will treatment start for you?

 

January 2nd. 35 treatments, left side only. I forget, where are you in your treatment?

Hi Rick...

My husband had stage 3 tonsil cancer last year, also from HPV.  I've done a lot of research on HPV and I have learned that once your spouse has been exposed to the HPV, your spouse can not re-catch it.  HPV can lay dormant for 20 + years.  In most cases our bodies will catch the HPV and flush it out of our system (or distroy it) with in about 3 years of getting it. But in some people it won't. 

There are many different types of HPV out there, but HPV 16 seems to have the most risk of becoming cancer.  Woman can be tested for HPV, and should be tested every year (your wife should ask her GYN for this test as well as the PAP test).

For men, there is still no way of testing men for HPV, only the testing of the tumor itself.  Most of the time HPV is passed from person to person via sexual contact (like I said before, it can take up to 20 years for it to show up on any tests), but there have been cases of people that have had HPV cancer that have never had sexual contact with anyone.  I was told by a nurse that there are now studies being done to see if HPV can be passed from a person onto objects, such as toilet seats, and may be spread that way.

They are now saying that up to 90% of the population (here in the US) has been exposed to HPV.  Of the tonsil cancers, only about 15% are thought be caused by HPV, most of them being non-smokers under the age of 55.

-  Amy