How do you clear the HPV16 virus to prevent cancer recurrence?

Yes. the majority of oral cancers are caused by the HPV virus. Have you been told that you have HPV? There are several HPV variants HP16 & HP18 variants are the ones that can cause cancer. If you don’t have HPV just having oral sex won’t cause cancer.

@lcreel44 any kind of sex can cause it. it is a sexually transmitted virus. most people clear it in a year of two, but some of us are not so lucky. after treatment for cancer my radiologist said I should be clear of the virus and after testing for it, it would seem he is right. have my last test coming up next week. tests are done 6mo, 9mo. year. they used to think that if you had oral sex that was how you got it and if you had anal sex that was how you got anal cancer. they now know that is wrong.

Me; HPV P16+. Never smoked, very little alcohol. Left tonsil removed, standard tonsillectomy. Positive margins.

My med/onc told me that trying to clear the HPV virus after cancer has already emerged is pointless. "The damage has already been done..." was what I was told. My ENT/Surgeon told me that the virus can lay dormant in the body for decades.
I've been married for 31 years, my wife does not have HPV. I have not had sex with another woman in all that time.
All that said, the health care I've been receiving here in Southern California is not a confidence builder.

Hi @sf2026

Very similar to me but I found through research there is way more to it.
Yes, you can get Human Papillomavirus (HPV) without penetrative sex. HPV is a skin-to-skin virus. While sexual contact is the most common way to contract the virus, it is not the only way.
You can contract HPV in several ways without intercourse:
Intimate Skin-to-Skin Contact: HPV can easily transmit when infected skin or mucous membranes (like the mouth or genital area) touch a partner's skin. This can happen through touching, heavy petting, or non-penetrative acts like oral contact.
Self-Inoculation: It is possible to transfer the virus from one part of your own body to another (for example, from a common wart on your hand to a different area of skin).
Shared Objects: While exceptionally rare, there is evidence that the virus can survive for short periods on inanimate objects, potentially spreading through shared items like towels or sex toys.
Important Distinctions: There are over 100 strains of HPV. The strains that cause common warts on your hands and feet are different from the strains that cause genital warts or lead to cancers. HPV is incredibly common, and many people have no symptoms, making it easy to spread without knowing.

Yes, it is possible to get HPV from deep, open-mouth kissing, though it is considered rare compared to sexual transmission. HPV spreads primarily through close skin-to-skin contact. While light kissing is not typically a risk, intimate kissing may pass the virus if one partner has an oral HPV infection.
Consider these key facts regarding HPV and kissing:
Primary Transmission: HPV is most commonly spread through vaginal, anal, and oral sex.
The Role of Saliva: HPV lives on the skin and mucosal surfaces rather than in saliva, which is why casual contact, hugging, or sharing utensils does not spread the virus.
Risk Factors: The risk of contracting oral HPV increases if you or your partners engage in oral sex or have multiple partners, as these behaviors are closely linked to transmission.

Best,
Rob

@roblem , Thanks for all that information. I think my primary point to @blessed52 was that antiviral treatment post cancer is usually not effective. Especially in men over the age of 45.

My wife has been tested and does not carry the virus. So for me, it appears that it was dormant in my body for more than 3 decades before causing cancer. I have zero sexual activity outside my 30 year marriage so I was apparently exposed by some someone before I met my wife. I’m just glad I didn’t transmit it to her.

Thanks again for the info.

@sf2026
You are correct about the antiviral effectiveness from what I have researched.

Unfortunately, it is possible for a partner to have hpv give it to you and you get cancer years later but at that time the partner gets tested and doesn't have hpv in them.

About 85% of all people will get an HPV infection in their lifetime. For additional info. there are over 150 plus strains in the HPV (Human Papillomavirus) family and most of the body’s immune system typically eradicates the virus within two years 90% of the time and most strains of HPV go away permanently without treatment. Unfortunately, where it doesn’t, can cause health problems like cancer sometime down the road. Age is a risk factor for oropharyngeal cancer. It’s more common in older adults because it takes years to develop. Because of this, it is almost impossible to know exactly when or from whom a person contracted the virus.

Also, 90% of all oral cancers today are now HPV-related and mostly are made up of men. Of all those HPV strains there are a few that cause cancer such as, HPV 16 & 18 are most commonly associated with development of cancer. The HPV 16 strain is strongly associated with throat cancer.

God bless

@sf2026 the antiviral treatment will not work post getting the virus, but the cancer treatment can apparently clear the virus from your system. it did mine.

@samclembeau , Thanks for the info. How and when did you determine the virus was gone?
Thanks

@sf2026
My radiologist thought it would be gone by the end of treatment. We did a blood test then and it came out negative. Then I did another 3 month then 6months and then years later. All came back negative. It is about the same timing as follow-up pet scans as I recall. The 2 year was this month.

@samclembeau , I'm glad you're cancer free! It sounds like your treatment was successful. But regarding the actual virus, I think you may be referring to liquid biopsy like ctDNA, NavDX being the one most commonly discussed in this forum.

I did a quick AI query: - Does cancer treatment also eliminate the hpv virus? -

This is what came back:

No, cancer treatment does not eliminate the HPV virus from your body. Treatments like surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation are designed to remove tumors and kill cancer cells, but there is currently no medication or medical procedure that can cure the virus itself.

Why Treatment Doesn't Eradicate HPV
• Localized Focus: Treatments like surgery or localized radiation target the specific areas where abnormal pre-cancerous cells or malignant tumors have developed. They do not sweep the entire body to clear the virus.

• Cellular Integration: The Human Papillomavirus (HPV) inserts its DNA into the host's cells. Cancer treatments successfully destroy these infected, mutating cells, but the virus can still remain present in other healthy cells in the surrounding tissue.

• Natural Clearance: In most cases, the body's own immune system clears the HPV virus naturally over time (usually within 1 to 2 years). However, if a persistent infection has already progressed to cancer, it means the immune system failed to clear it on its own.

Wishing you continued good health.