Staging HPV-related oropharyngeal cancer: Validation of AJCC-8 in a surgical cohort

Over the last two decades, human papillomavirus related (HPV+) oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma (OPSCC) has been recognized as a fundamentally different disease than tobacco and alcohol related (HPV −) OPSSC [1–3]. While both diseases are squamous cell carcinomas that arise in the oropharynx, HPV+ disease tends to affect a younger cohort of patients with a different set of risk factors [1–3], and has been shown to have different molecular biology than HPV negative disease [4]. Importantly , patients with HPV+ disease have a substantially improved prognosis [1–3,5].
Source: Oral Oncology - Category: Cancer & Oncology Authors: Source Type: research