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Tumor Staging and HPV-Related Oropharyngeal Cancer

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HPV Infection in Head and Neck Cancer

Part of the book series: Recent Results in Cancer Research ((RECENTCANCER,volume 206))

Abstract

The current TNM staging for oropharyngeal cancer (OSCC) was designed empirically for non-HPV-related disease. Emerging evidence suggests it is unsuited for Human papillomavirus (HPV)-related OSCC. Patients with HPV-positive tumors have improved prognosis, despite presenting at advanced stages. These shortcomings of the current staging system have been identified in single- and multi-institutional trials. Patients with HPV related OSCC typically present with advanced N-stages leading to higher stage groupings. A rarity of stages I and II therefore represents the nature of HPV-related OSCC. Concerning prognosis of the patients, N-category and extracapsular spread seem to be of minor importance, whereas advanced T-stages result in unfavourable outcome. Anatomical staging therefore has been implied into different proposals to prognostic risk classifications in HPV-related disease as an additive compound. Prognostic risk groupings are further enhanced by incorporating non-anatomical factors. To summarize, it can be suggested that the current TNM system alone has little prognostic value in HPV-related OSCC.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, University of Giessen, Giessen, Germany

    Claus Wittekindt & Jens Peter Klussmann

Authors
  1. Claus Wittekindt
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  2. Jens Peter Klussmann
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Claus Wittekindt .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Head and Neck Surgery, Poznan University of Medical Sciences, The Greater Poland Cancer Centre, Poznań, Poland

    Wojciech Golusiński

  2. Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, VU University Medical Center/Cancer Center Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

    C. René Leemans

  3. Dept. of Head Medicine and Oral Health, University of Leipzig Clinic of Otolaryngology, Leipzig, Germany

    Andreas Dietz

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Wittekindt, C., Klussmann, J.P. (2017). Tumor Staging and HPV-Related Oropharyngeal Cancer. In: Golusiński, W., Leemans, C., Dietz, A. (eds) HPV Infection in Head and Neck Cancer. Recent Results in Cancer Research, vol 206. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-43580-0_9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-43580-0_9

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-43578-7

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-43580-0

  • eBook Packages: MedicineMedicine (R0)

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