Leanne Addis, 49, was shocked to be diagnosed with oropharyngeal cancer after having a sore throat – and she is now sharing her story to ensure other women take their health seriously
A mum who popped lozenges to ease her painful sore throat was horrified to discover it was cancer – ‘most likely caused by oral sex’.
Leanne Addis suffered for ten weeks, starting in February 2024, with a sore throat and took lozenges and paracetamol to try and ease the pain. But when a plum-sized lump emerged on the right-hand side of her neck and her mouth started bleeding, she visited her GP in May 2024.
The mum-of-three was given a course of antibiotics and referred to hospital specialists who ordered a scan and biopsy. Just two weeks later, Leanne was told the devastating news she had oropharyngeal cancer – and says doctors told her it was caused by HPV 16, which is sexually transmitted.
Leanne, 49, knew how brutal treatment would be as she’d just finished watching Rhod Gilbert’s A Pain In The Neck cancer documentary before she was diagnosed. After gruelling rounds of chemotherapy and radiation therapy, Leanne, who’d only been dating her fiancé John Graham, 56, for six months when diagnosed, is now all clear and undergoing checks every two months.
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The dog groomer is now sharing her ordeal to encourage people to get anything unusual checked out and, if eligible, get the HPV vaccine.
Leanne, from Swansea, South Wales, said: “When I was told I had cancer, in all honesty I was more concerned about everybody else. John and I had only been in a relationship for six months, at the time I was making plans to live full-time with him in Swansea.
“I was just thinking of my children too, there was a lot going through my head. It’s the same HPV that causes cervical cancer, I had no idea that you could actually get it in your throat. They said it’s sexually transmitted and that most people’s bodies would just fight it off, but I haven’t been able to and that’s how it’s developed.
“It had spread by that point. I had it in the roof of my mouth, the base of my tongue and in my lymph nodes. You can get it from passionately kissing, but more or less it’s probably from oral sex. I sat with John the day after my diagnosis and we re-watched the Rhod Gilbert documentary because I thought it was important that he knew what we were going to go through.”
She added: “I said to him ‘if you want to walk away I totally understand, it’s only been six months’. He said ‘don’t ever say that to me again’.”
Leanne, who was the fittest she’d ever been thanks to dropping two stone and taking up running and netball, was stunned with the diagnosis.
She said: “I was the fittest and healthiest I had ever been in my life. I was running, playing netball and I was eating healthily. I’d had a sore throat for about 10 weeks. I also developed a lump on the right-hand side of my neck that was about the size of a plum. This was in March and I just thought it was a sore throat, that time of year, and bought some lozenges. As time went on I was thinking ‘this is a long time’.”
Leanne continued: “I went to the local pharmacy, he said ‘you need to see a GP’. On May Bank Holiday, when I was at home, I felt something pop in my throat. I had to rush to the sink because I had a mouthful of blood. I thought ‘right I have to see somebody about this’.”
The GP referred Leanne to Morriston Hospital in Swansea, South Wales, and after investigations, including a biopsy, Leanne was told her diagnosis and was scheduled in to begin treatment.
Due to her recent weight loss, Leanne was fitted with a feeding tube to ensure she didn’t lose too much weight during treatment. In August 2024 Leanne began six rounds of chemotherapy before undergoing six weeks’ of radiation.
Leanne said: “The pain was so excruciating. You lose your appetite, which is why I went onto the feeding pump, I was bedbound for three months. After Christmas I started to feel a bit better, and in March I started getting back out and doing something of the things I was doing before.
“The swelling on my neck was from my lymph node, that went down because of the treatment. I’m still not back to my sports, I’m still fatigued.” Now 12 months on from completing her treatment, Leanne is urging people to get anything unusual checked out, and get the HPV vaccine if eligible.
Leanne said: “It’s only now I’m starting to process what I actually went through. I had no idea how ill I was. I go every two months to see the consultant. At the moment, touch wood, there’s no evidence of cancer there at all.
“It’s important for women to go to smear tests regularly. The doctor has seen it all before, it’s perfectly normal to be nervous about going but it’s better than the alternative. I will keep banging on about the HPV vaccine to prevent others from going through the same thing.”
What is HPV?
HPV (Human papillomavirus) is extremely common and most people will be infected with one or more types, which can include the types that cause cancer, at some point in their lives. Most people also clear the infection from their bodies within a year and before it can cause any problems. Only a very small proportion of people go on to develop cancer, according to information from Throat Cancer Foundation.
HPV is passed between people by skin-to-skin contact, including common sexual activities such as intercourse and oral sex. Having a cancer caused by HPV does not mean that you have had lots of partners, just that you happen to have been exposed to one of the types of the virus that causes cancer. Oral sex is the most likely cause of throat cancers that have been caused by HPV. However, not every case of throat cancer is caused by oral sex.
