1. < Head & Neck Cancer

Test for HPV and cryoablation for tonsils

Posted by Concerned father/husband @loveheals1, Apr 24, 2023

I came across Connect when researching for a friend recently diagnosed with cancer in one tonsil and one lymph node.

I have read of the difference in prognosis if cancer is HPV negative or positive but I’m unclear how that is determined, tested for? My friend was told that surgery wasn’t an option.

Second, does anyone know whether cryoablation has been used for this type of cancer ? Thanks in advance for your replies and for this wonderful forum.

Interested in more discussions like this? Go to the Head & Neck Cancer Support Group.

Concerned father/husband | @loveheals1 | May 7, 2023
In reply to @mojo244 "I’m 6.5 years out from stage IV . I didn’t waste time with getting a second..." + (show)
@mojo244

I’m 6.5 years out from stage IV .
I didn’t waste time with getting a second opinion because I had been misdiagnosed by a family doctor and an ENT TWICE!
Anyway with that aside; I did ask my oncologist about some more modern methods and his reply was “they don’t work!”
I took him as knowing what he was talking about and trusted his judgement.
I underwent the typical 35 radiation and 3 rounds of Cisplatin.
I had too much cancer and surgery wasn’t an option!
Now, let’s touch on this “5 year” life thing.
I too found information that the survival rate was 5 years.
I asked my oncologist about that and here was the answer;
“The reason it’s 5 years is because the patient will only see the oncologist for 5 years after treatment unless a problem develops”.
He went on to explain that the survival is simply the 5 years post treatment office visits and after that, no further documentation is penned.
His advice was to stay off the internet searches and trust that the treatments will kill the cancer!
So that’s what I did and I’m still here.
Hope this helps,

MOJO

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Mojo,

Thanks again for your helpful reply. I feel compelled to reply back to somehow let Mayo Connect readers know the explanation you received from your oncology doctor about the 5year survival rate is ABSOLUTELY accurate and is VERY important for ANYONE dealing with cancer or other illnesses to understand. That is :

When a doctor says that the life expectancy for 5 years is 45% ,,,,THAT DOES NOT MEAN THAT BY “DOING THE MATH”, on average you can expect to live 2.5 years....

As one of the doctors I met at the Oral Cancer Symposium stated to me "that is not an accurate interpretation of the data".

The 45% is the CURE rate! That after 5 years, 45% of the people will have survived and may well live many, many more years without the cancer returning. Generally don’t keep tracking the records of the patients after 5 years!

This correct interpretation of that data point is a major game changer for any patient using the information to assess what treatment options they decide to pursue.

Here’s the thing…I suspect that my friend, myself and the many other people that were surprised to learn this important distinction…are not an anomaly but that MOST patients and anyone not on the medical field misinterpret this critical information EVERYDAY.

This is SUCH AN IMPORTANT, LIFE SAVING piece of information that I hope that when Colleen reads this post she might agree that it is SO important that she and others at MAYO Connect program (and beyond) collectively decide that this warrants Connect sending out some kind of Broadcast posting to EVERY PERSON READING this great resource about this very important…. undoubted life-extending and potentially life saving clarification for ANYONE facing a serious medical situation/decision. God may it be so. I will be praying in church this morning that this is the outcome of this posting. Blessings.

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