Pathologic Markers in Surgically Treated HPV-Associated Oropharyngeal Cancer: Retrospective Study Systematic Review, and Meta-Analysis.

Megan Crawley, Additional authors and institutional affiliations

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

Objective:  Human papillomavirus-associated (HPV) oropharyngeal cancer is a unique clinical entity whose incidence is increasing. It is controversial whether traditional pathologic markers of aggressive head and neck cancer also apply in surgically treated HPV-associated disease.
Study design:  Retrospective study, systematic review, and meta-analysis Data Sources: PubMed and Cochrane review.
Review methods:  PubMed and Cochrane review were searched for published articles on surgically treated HPV-associated oropharyngeal cancer. Eligible studies were included in a meta-analysis of survival using several clinicopathologic markers as predictors. Surgically treated HPV-positive oropharyngeal cancer patients at our institution were studied retrospectively and added to the meta-analysis.
Results:  Eight published reports, plus our retrospective series, were included in the meta-analysis. This showed significant impact on event-free survival for T stage, nodal number, perineural invasion, and lymphovascular invasion (all P < .05) but not for N stage extracapsular extension ( P = ns).
Conclusions:  While many traditional clinico-pathologic markers of aggressive disease in head and neck cancer also impact survival in surgically treated HPV-associated oropharyngeal cancer, extracapsular extension may be less important.
Original languageAmerican English
JournalThe Annals of otology, rhinology, and laryngology
Volume126
StatePublished - May 2017

Disciplines

  • Medicine and Health Sciences

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