Upfront surgery versus definitive chemoradiotherapy in patients with human Papillomavirus-associated oropharyngeal squamous cell cancer

Human papillomavirus-associated oropharyngeal squamous cell cancer (HPV-A OPC) incidence has increased significantly over the past two decades, accounting for over 70% of newly diagnosed OPC and now having an incidence higher than that of uterine cervical cancer [1,2]. HPV-A and HPV-negative OPCs are now considered distinct diseases, as evidenced by different etiologies, natural histories [3,4], biomolecular signatures [5 –7], treatment responsiveness [8], and staging systems [9]. Numerous prospective trials have demonstrated that HPV positivity confers improved prognosis compared to patients with similar stage HPV-negative tumors [8,10–17].

Source: Oral Oncology - March 8, 2018 Category: Cancer & Oncology Authors: Jacqueline R. Kelly, Henry S. Park, Yi An, Wendell G. Yarbrough, Joseph N. Contessa, Roy Decker, Saral Mehra, Benjamin L. Judson, Barbara Burtness, Zain Husain Source Type: research