Have HPV-Related Oral Cancer? The Robot Will See You Now

In a Mayo Clinic study, robotic surgery appeared less debilitating than traditional, more invasive surgery and radiation therapy. The surgeons now plan to offer robot docs as a primary treatment. With oral sex on the rise, oral cancer is also up, and by as much as 25 percent in the past few years alone--particularly among otherwise healthy 30- to 50-year-old nonsmokers, according to Mayo Clinic researchers. That's the bad news. The goods news is that this rise is largely attributed to types of oral cancer caused by the human papillomavirus, or HPV, which tend to be less aggressive and more responsive to treatment than the oral cancers traditionally seen in older patients who have been smoking and/or drinking for decades.

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