Current state of play for HPV-positive oropharyngeal cancers

Fiona Deutsch; Izabel Regina Bullen; Kevin Nguyen; Ngoc-Ha Tran; Michael Elliott; Nham Tran

doi:10.1016/j.ctrv.2022.102439

Current state of play for HPV-positive oropharyngeal cancers

Cancer Treat Rev. 2022 Nov:110:102439. doi: 10.1016/j.ctrv.2022.102439. Epub 2022 Jul 26.

Authors

Fiona Deutsch¹, Izabel Regina Bullen², Kevin Nguyen³, Ngoc-Ha Tran⁴, Michael Elliott⁵, Nham Tran⁶

Affiliations

¹ School of Biomedical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and IT, University of Technology Sydney, Sydney, Australia.
² Department of Surgery, Stomatology, Pathology and Radiology, Bauru School of Dentistry, University of São Paulo, Brazil.
³ Sydney Head and Neck Cancer Institute, Sydney, Australia; Chris O'Brien Lifehouse, Sydney, Australia.
⁴ Department of Otolaryngology, University of Medicine and Pharmacy at Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.
⁵ Sydney Head and Neck Cancer Institute, Sydney, Australia; Chris O'Brien Lifehouse, Sydney, Australia; School of Medicine, University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia.
⁶ School of Biomedical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and IT, University of Technology Sydney, Sydney, Australia; Sydney Head and Neck Cancer Institute, Sydney, Australia. Electronic address: [email protected].

PMID: 36126367
DOI: 10.1016/j.ctrv.2022.102439

Abstract

Clinically, HPV-positive oropharyngeal cancers (OPCs) have been shown to have a distinct prognosis, compared to HPV-negative tumours, particularly in survival rates and responses to treatment. These patients have better survival chances and improved prognosis, indicating that a more exhaustive knowledge of these distinctions would aid in the discovery of clinical approaches for both HPV-positive and negative tumours. Furthermore, there is increasing evidence that HPV-related oropharyngeal cancers constitute an epidemiological, molecular, and clinical distinct form as compared to non-HPV related ones therefore, the treatment of these specific subtype of oropharyngeal cancers should adopt a distinct clinical treatment pipeline. Our review will examine the current approaches for the diagnosis and treatment of OPC and discuss the relevance of de-escalation clinical trials in progress.

Keywords: Current diagnosis and treatments; De-escalation therapies; HPV-positive oropharyngeal cancers.

Publication types

Review

MeSH terms

Humans
Oropharyngeal Neoplasms* / pathology
Oropharyngeal Neoplasms* / therapy
Papillomaviridae
Papillomavirus Infections* / complications
Prognosis
Survival Rate