Dad shares story to raise men's awareness of virus

Father-of-two who feared he might not live to see his children grow up says HPV-related cancers are not talked about enough. Abbie Wightwick reports

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Cancer survivor Anthony Perriam with his wife and children and, right, during treatment

FATHER-of-two Anthony Perriam had just returned from a family holiday in March 2023 when he noticed a small, hard lump under the right side of his jaw.

While there was no pain, no sore throat, and no other symptoms, he decided to visit his GP just to be on the safe side.

"Because it didn’t hurt, I didn’t think it was serious," recalled Anthony, from Whitchurch, Cardiff. "I even debated whether it was worth going to the doctor. Looking back, that delay could have cost me my life."

After the GP appointment, Anthony was sent for an ultrasound scan. Within weeks, he underwent a biopsy and CT scan at the University Hospital of Wales (UHW), followed by an MRI which fell on his 39th birthday.

Shortly afterwards, he was called back into hospital and given the heartbreaking diagnosis. "They told me the biopsy had come back and it was cancer," he said. "I had a three-year-old and a six-year-old at the time. My first thought wasn’t about me - it was about them. I was completely petrified for them."

Doctors confirmed the cancer was in a lymph node but could not initially locate the primary tumour. Further testing revealed it was HPV-related head and neck cancer, a form of the disease that is often highly treatable when detected early.