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HPV & head and neck cancer: a descriptive update

Goon, PKC; Stanley, MA; Ebmeyer, J; Steinsträsser, L; Upile, T; Jerjes, W; Bernal-Sprekelsen, M; ... Sudhoff, HH; + view all (2009) HPV & head and neck cancer: a descriptive update. Head & Neck Oncology , 1 , Article 36. 10.1186/1758-3284-1-36. Green open access

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Abstract

The incidence of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) has been gradually increasing over the last three decades. Recent data have now attributed a viral aetiology to a subset of head and neck cancers. Several studies indicate that oral human papillomavirus (HPV) infection is likely to be sexually acquired. The dominance of HPV 16 in HPV+ HNSCC is even greater than that seen in cervical carcinoma of total worldwide cases. Strong evidence suggests that HPV+ status is an important prognostic factor associated with a favourable outcome in head and neck cancers. Approximately 30 to 40% of HNSCC patients with present with early stage I/II disease. These patients are treated with curative intent using single modality treatments either radiation or surgery alone. A non-operative approach is favored for patients in which surgery followed by either radiation alone or radiochemotherapy may lead to severe functional impairment. Cetuximab, a humanized mouse anti-EGFR IgG1 monoclonal antibody, improved locoregional control and overall survival in combination with radiotherapy in locally advanced tumours but at the cost of some increased cardiac morbidity and mortality. Finally, the improved prognosis and treatment responses to chemotherapy and radiotherapy by HPV+ tumours may suggest that HPV status detection is required to better plan and individualize patient treatment regimes.

Type: Article
Title: HPV & head and neck cancer: a descriptive update
Open access status: An open access version is available from UCL Discovery
DOI: 10.1186/1758-3284-1-36
Publisher version: http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/1758-3284-1-36
Language: English
Additional information: © 2009 Goon et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Keywords: Cancer, Head, Head and neck, Head and neck cancer, HPV, MS, October, Other
UCL classification: UCL
URI: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/175087
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