HPV-Related Throat Cancers on the Rise

Jim Whitaker had had a sore throat for a couple of weeks when he went to his doctor in fall 2017.

Antibiotics didn’t do much, so his doctor sent him to an ear, nose and throat specialist.

After an initial exam, Whitaker recalled, the specialist scooted his chair back. “Almost the first thing out of his mouth was cancer,” he said.

The specialist took a closer look and sent Whitaker to a head and neck surgical oncologist. It didn’t take Dr. Aru Panwar long to come to a similar conclusion.

Omaha World-Herald reporter Julie Anderson: HPV-Related Cancers Are Becoming More Common in the Throat And in Men