{"id":457048,"date":"2026-02-06T06:19:15","date_gmt":"2026-02-06T06:19:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/457048\/"},"modified":"2026-02-06T06:19:15","modified_gmt":"2026-02-06T06:19:15","slug":"dad-who-nearly-lost-tongue-to-cancer-urges-mens-virus-awareness","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/457048\/","title":{"rendered":"Dad who nearly lost tongue to cancer urges men&#8217;s virus awareness"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">A dad-of-two nearly lost his tongue after a small lump under his jaw turned out to be cancer.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Anthony Perriam saw his GP after feeling the lump for the first time and within weeks he had been diagnosed with a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nhs.uk\/conditions\/human-papilloma-virus-hpv\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:human papillomavirus (HPV) related cancer;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">human papillomavirus (HPV) related cancer<\/a> in his head and neck.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">HPV is a common group of viruses affecting the skin, which do not cause problems in most people but certain types can cause cancer or genital warts.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Anthony, from Cardiff, said: &#8220;I&#8217;d only ever heard of HPV in relation to cervical cancer. I had no idea it could cause cancers like this, especially in men.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">This article contains images that some may find distressing.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Anthony added: &#8220;I consider myself lucky that I can still eat and talk, but if I&#8217;d left it much later, I could have lost my tongue or even died.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Most people who become infected with HPV will clear the virus from their body, NHS Wales says.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">But it can cause genital warts, or even develop into cancer &#8211; most commonly head and neck for men and cervical for women.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">A vaccine is recommended by the NHS for children aged 12 and 13 and people at higher risk from HPV.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">&#8220;If you find a lump, even if it doesn&#8217;t hurt, get it checked,&#8221; he said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">&#8220;This kind of cancer isn&#8217;t talked about enough, especially among men. Early action really does save lives.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><img alt=\"Anthony Perriam is sat in a hospital bed with a tube leaving his nostril. He is poking his tongue out, where a blue-ish colour covers half of it.\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"780\" height=\"439\" decoding=\"async\" data-nimg=\"1\" class=\"rounded-lg\" style=\"color:transparent\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/1e3a8a56964fb2d38563942181a00473.jpeg\"\/><\/p>\n<p>A tumour was eventually discovered at the base of Anthony&#8217;s tongue [Anthony Perriam]<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Despite not having any symptoms, a CT scan, biopsy and MRI confirmed the disease in March 2023.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">&#8220;I had a three-year-old and a six-year-old at the time. My first thought wasn&#8217;t about me, it was about them. I was completely petrified for them,&#8221; the now-41-year-old said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Anthony had 44 lymph nodes from his neck removed, and the primary tumour, at the base of his tongue, was eventually found using robotic-assisted surgery.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">&#8220;They told me they caught it just in time,&#8221; he said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">&#8220;One of the lymph nodes was on the verge of rupturing. If it had gone any further, it could have spread.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><img alt=\"Anthony Perriam is lying in a hospital bad with two teddy bears by his side. He is wearing a mask as he is about to be scanned for cancer.\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"960\" height=\"540\" decoding=\"async\" data-nimg=\"1\" class=\"rounded-lg\" style=\"color:transparent\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/46a558cf34700da26e763f9c8f4d4061.jpeg\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Anthony underwent a CT scan and an MRI scan before his cancer was confirmed [Anthony Perriam]<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Radiotherapy and chemotherapy was tough, and Anthony lost 22kg (48.5 lbs) in weight.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">&#8220;All of my saliva disappeared,&#8221; he said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">&#8220;Even drinking was difficult, as everything turned to powder in my mouth.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">&#8220;I was so weak that I eventually needed a wheelchair.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">He added: &#8220;Being wheeled down the corridor and into radiotherapy was starting to affect my mental health.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">&#8220;But my family gave me the motivation to get through it and I wanted to live to see my 40th birthday.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>What is HPV?<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nhs.uk\/conditions\/human-papilloma-virus-hpv\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:HPV affects the skin;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">HPV affects the skin<\/a> and there are more than 100 different types.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">It can be caught from skin-to-skin contact of the genital area, vaginal, anal or oral sex, and sharing sex toys.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">A vaccine is offered as part of a national immunisation programme in Wales and works best when given to children aged 12 and 13.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">University Hospital of Wales says the vaccine has cut cervical cancer rates by almost 90% in women in their 20s since it was introduced in 2008.<\/p>\n<p><img alt=\"Anthony Perriam is sat down looking away from the camera. He has a large scar from surgery from his ear to the bottom of his neck.\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"960\" height=\"540\" decoding=\"async\" data-nimg=\"1\" class=\"rounded-lg\" style=\"color:transparent\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/3cd3d032cd437000db1df4efce4d9705.jpeg\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Surgeons removed 44 lymph nodes from his neck during an operation [Anthony Perriam]<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Sandeep Berry, consultant otolaryngologist head and neck surgeon at Cardiff and Vale health board, urged parents to encourage their children to receive the vaccine.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">He said: &#8220;The HPV vaccine has been used worldwide for years, it&#8217;s safe and effective, and is part of the national immunisation programme in Wales.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">&#8220;It helps boys and girls stay healthy, prevents HPV-related cancer and strengthens public health overall.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">&#8220;The vaccine is given in Year 8 as it&#8217;s when the immune system responds most strongly and before sexual activity begins.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>More top storiesRelated internet links<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A dad-of-two nearly lost his tongue after a small lump under his jaw turned out to be cancer.&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":457049,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[4626,187297,49,48,7714,40011,187298,84,35877],"class_list":["post-457048","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-health","tag-anthony","tag-anthony-perriam","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-cancer","tag-cervical-cancer","tag-head-and-neck","tag-health","tag-hpv-vaccine"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/457048","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=457048"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/457048\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/457049"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=457048"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=457048"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=457048"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}