Abstract
Background: There are no existing high-volume studies characterizing human papillomavirus (HPV)-associated nasopharyngeal cancer (NPC). Methods: The National Cancer Data Base (NCDB) was queried for NPC with known HPV (2004-2013). Logistic regression ascertained factors associated with HPV-positivity. Kaplan-Meier overall survival (OS) was evaluated between HPV-positive and HPV-negative cohorts; Cox proportional hazards modeling assessed factors associated with OS. Patients with nonmetastatic disease receiving definitive chemoradiotherapy underwent propensity-matched OS analysis. Results: Altogether, 956 patients were analyzed (32% HPV-positive and 68% HPV-negative). Median follow-up was 23 months (range 0-67 months). The patients with HPV-positive disease were younger, less likely to be uninsured, lived in more educated areas, and presented with more advanced T (but not N/overall) classification. Median OS for HPV-positive and HPV-negative groups were 50 and 43 months, respectively (P =.171). The HPV status did not independently predict for OS (P =.183). No OS differences were observed after propensity matching (P =.734). Conclusion: In what we believe as the only large study of HPV-associated NPC, HPV neither correlates with nor predicts survival in NPC. Owing to the difficulty of addressing causality in database studies, further work must corroborate the findings herein.
Original language | English (US) |
---|---|
Pages (from-to) | 696-706 |
Number of pages | 11 |
Journal | Head and Neck |
Volume | 40 |
Issue number | 4 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Apr 2018 |
Keywords
- chemotherapy
- human papillomavirus
- nasopharyngeal cancer
- nasopharynx
- radiotherapy
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Otorhinolaryngology