Prognostic value of nodal involvement in patients with oropharyngeal carcinoma according to the HPV status

Abstract

Background and objective: Different studies performed in populations with a high incidence of HPV infection have found no prognostic capacity of clinical nodal involvement (cN+) in patients with HPV-positive oropharyngeal carcinomas. The objective of this study was to assess the prognostic ability of nodal involvement in patients with oropharyngeal carcinomas according to HPV status in a cancer population with a low incidence of HPV infection.

Material and methods: Retrospective study of a cohort of 420 patients with oropharyngeal carcinomas treated during the period 1990-2016 for whom information on HPV status was available.

Results: 14.8% of the patients included in the study had HPV-positive tumours. In relation to patients without nodal involvement (cN0), nodal involvement at diagnosis (cN+) significantly decreased the specific survival of patients with HPV-negative oropharyngeal carcinomas. Conversely, no differences in survival were found for patients with HPV-positive tumours according to the presence of nodal involvement. A history of toxic consumption did not change the absence of prognostic significance of nodal involvement for patients with HPV-positive tumours.

Conclusions: Regional involvement at the time of diagnosis is not a prognostic variable for patients with HPV-positive oropharyngeal carcinomas.

Keywords: Capacidad pronóstica; Carcinoma de orofaringe; HPV; Metástasis cervicales; Neck node metastasis; Oropharyngeal carcinoma; Prognostic value; cN.