De-Escalation Strategies in HPV-Associated Oropharynx Cancer —Are we Putting the Cart Before the Horse?

Let's get to the punchline because it is a big one: Radiation therapy plus cetuximab led to inferior overall survival (OS) in human papilloma virus (HPV)-positive oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma (SCC). It is in light of the recently published results from Radiation Therapy Oncology Group (RTOG) 1016 and De-ESCALaTE HPV that we scope this issue's Oncology Scan to discuss the populist view that has prevailed among the head and neck cancer community for some time now: treatment de-intensification in HPV-positive oropharyngeal SCC (OPSCC).

Source: International Journal of Radiation Oncology * Biology * Physics - June 15, 2019 Category: Radiology Authors: Carryn M. Anderson, Randall J. Kimple, Alexander Lin, Sana D. Karam, Danielle N. Margalit, Melvin L.K. Chua Tags: Feature Source Type: research