A Beloved TV Star
- Late actor Bob Denver died from a rare throat cancer 16 years ago today at age 70.
- The TV star, who portrayed Willy Gilligan on the 1960s show Gilligan’s Island, started experiencing symptoms in late 2004, when his voice started getting hoarse. He was diagnosed with stage 4 throat cancer.
- Throat cancer can be caused by alcohol and tobacco, but it’s important to know that the disease can also be caused by the human papillomavirus, or HPV, which both men and women can get.
The late TV starwho portrayed Gilligan, the title character on the hit 1960s show Gilligan’s Islandstarted experiencing symptoms in late 2004, when his voice started getting hoarse. Then he started dropping weight by the spring. He finally saw a doctor who performed an endoscopy, which is a procedure that threads a thin camera through the nose to look inside the throat.
Read MoreThe New York nativewho was raised in Brownwood, Texas was survived by his loving wife, actress Dreama Perry Denver, and four children Patrick, Megan, Emily and Colin, who were with him when he passed.
"He was my everything and I will love him forever," Dreama Denver said in a statement at the time. Denver had been married four times.
Denver’s role as Gilligan — the bumbling first mate of a group of shipwrecked castaways — is what he’s most remembered for and the show still a staple of syndication. He also played Maynard Krebs, the best friend of Dobie Gillis in the sitcom The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis.
View this post on Instagram
Causes of Throat Cancer
A lot of people don't know that human papillomavirus can cause canceror assume that it can only cause cervical cancer, because that's the one that's talked about the most. But HPV can cause a handful of other cancers, including throat. Cancers in the back of the throat are often caused by tobacco and alcohol, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), but recent studies have indicated that as many as 60-70% of these throat cancers may be linked to HPV or caused by a combination of HPV, alcohol, and tobacco.
Related: Should I Give My Kids the HPV Vaccine? A Leading Doctor On Why She Says ‘Yes!’
"There are no screening guidelines to screen for throat cancer, unlike cervical cancer with pap smears," Dr. Jessica Geiger, a medical oncologist at Cleveland Clinic Cancer Center, tells SurvivorNet. "There are no standard tests to determine if you harbor the virus."
On the plus side, HPV-related throat cancers are generally responsive to a combination of radiation and chemotherapy treatments, according to Dr. Geiger. "The cure rates for people who have HPV-related disease are a lot higher than those who have tobacco-related throat cancer."
Get the Facts What Do We Know About HPV-Linked Throat Cancer?
HPV Can Cause Cancer in Men Too
Learn more about SurvivorNet's rigorous medical review process.