Prognostic role of human papilloma virus status in hypopharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma

Abstract

Objective: Although the prognostic role of human papilloma virus (HPV) status in oropharyngeal head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) is well established, growing evidence shows that there may be a prognostic role for HPV status in hypopharyngeal SCC. The objective of this study was to determine the prognostic role of HPV status in hypopharyngeal SCC. Methods: We performed a retrospective, population-based analysis of 1934 adult patients with HNSCC diagnosed between 2010-2016 and treated with a combination of surgery and/or radiotherapy, with or without chemotherapy, and a subset of 641 patients with hypopharyngeal SCC and known HPV status included in the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) Head and Neck with HPV Status Database. Patient data were used to determine the adjusted 2-year cancer-specific survival (CSS) and overall survival (OS) for the entire cohort and the specific subgroup of hypopharyngeal cancer patients with known HPV status. Results: Of the 1934 hypopharynx SCC cases, HPV status was unknown in 1294 (66.9%), and 167 (8.6%) were HPV positive; among hypopharynx cases with known HPV status, 21.6% were HPV positive. In models adjusting for sex, age, race/ethnicity, marital status and stage, patients with HPV-positive hypopharyngeal tumors had

The effect of HPV DNA and p16 status on the prognosis of patients with hypopharyngeal carcinoma: a meta-analysis

“…According to the inclusion and exclusion criteria, 653 articles were excluded. Finally, by carefully browsing the full text of the remaining 101 articles, we included 18 articles in total [ 17 – 21 , 25 – 37 ]. Among them, 12 articles were related to HPV DNA status, and 11 articles were related to p16 status (Fig.…”

“…The characteristics of the 12 included articles on HPV DNA status [ 17 – 21 , 25 – 31 ] and the 11 included articles on p16 status [ 20 , 21 , 25 , 28 , 29 , 32 – 37 ] are summarized in Tables 1 and 2 . All of the studies were published between 2011 and 2020.…”

“…However, the effect of either HPV or p16 status on prognosis in HPC has not been clearly concluded. To date, many studies have examined the relationship between HPV infection and the prognosis of HPC, with some suggesting that HPV-positive HPC patients have a better prognosis [ 17 , 18 ]. Some research, however, has shown that there is no obvious correlation between HPV infection and the prognosis of HPC [ 19 , 20 ], and some studies even drew opposite conclusions [ 21 ].…”

Correlation and prognostic impact of human papilloma virus and p16-expression in advanced hypopharynx and larynx cancer treated with definitive radiotherapy

“…Moreover, outside OPC, the correlation between HPV and p16-expression is less robust and the prognostic significance of both markers seems less obvious. A previous analysis on DAHANCA patients treated with definitive (chemo) radiation found no prognostic impact of p16-expression in non-OPC [11], but other groups have reported conflicting findings [12,13]. Partly, this disagreement in observations can be explained by differences in patient populations, tumour-sites and treatment strategies among the studies.…”

Relevance of Human Papillomaviruses in Head and Neck Cancer—What Remains in 2021 from a Clinician’s Point of View?

“…In agreement with studies by others [ 15 ], several own studies strongly corroborate the positive impact of HPV in head and neck cancer with significant superior OS and PFS for patients with HPV-positive tumors when compared to HPV-negatives. The latter is true (i) for all HNSCCs including laryngeal and hypopharyngeal SCC [ 78 , 79 ], yet with some conflicting data [ 80 , 81 ], but specifically for TSCC, and (ii) for HPV DNA positives but specifically for those cases with active HPV infections in terms of detection of viral mRNA. Prognosis of survival, however, is not solely correlated with the infection with HPV but additionally depends on smoking habit and the presence of co-morbidities with poorest survival rates for HPV-negative smokers and/or patients with co-morbidities [ 4 , 5 , 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 ].…”