Maura Gillison, Who Transformed the Treatment of Mouth and Throat Cancers, Dies at 61

For decades, oncologists blamed cancers of the mouth and throat on excessive use of tobacco or alcohol. It was typically an old man’s disease.Starting in the 1980s, they were shocked to see more of these so-called oropharyngeal cancers in people—often young or middle-aged men—who had little or no history of drinking or smoking. A few oncologists suggested those might be caused by the human papillomavirus, or HPV, just as cervical and some other cancers are. But most scoffed at that idea.Copyright ©2026 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 87990cbe856818d5eddac44c7b1cdeb8Videos