The presence of human papillomavirus-16 (HPV-16) is associated with higher rates of overall survival in patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSC), suggesting it may be a more effective prognostic indicator than other HPV genotypes.
HPV, a common infection spread through direct sexual contact, is widely recognized as a prognostic indicator for HNSC and is often used to identify targeted, risk-adapted treatment regimens for patients with the disease. The presence of p16, a tumor suppressor protein, is commonly used as a substitute for the identification of HPV due to the agreement between the two biomarkers. However, p16 immunohistochemistry is unable to distinguish between HPV-16 (the most common HPV genotype found in HNSC) and other HPV genotypes.
Therefore, Scott V Bratman, MD, PhD, Princess Margaret Cancer Centre Research Institute (Toronto, Canada) and his colleagues conducted a study to investigate the prognostic value of specific HPV genotypes among patients with HNSC. Dr Bratman and his team looked at over 179 distinct HPV genotypes within 515 HNSC tumors using data available through The Cancer Genome Atlas, a database of tissue samples from 33 cancer types and subtypes.
A total of 73 tumors presented with HPV genotypes. The most common genotype was HPV-16, occurring in 61 (84%) of the tumors. HPV-33 was the next most common, occurring in 8 tumors (11%), followed by HPV-35 (3 tumors; 4%) and HPV-56 (1 tumor; 1%).
Patients with the HPV-16 genotype experienced a significantly higher 3-year overall survival rate compared with patients who presented with the other genotypes (88% vs 49%).
The researchers acknowledged that other clinical and demographic factors not included in the dataset could have effected overall survival.
From their data, researchers concluded that patients who present with HPV genotypes other than HPV-16 might not be ideal candidates for treatment de-intensification as previously thought, although more research will be needed to confirm the prognostic value of other specific HPV genotypes.
