Predicting Survival in Oropharyngeal Squamous Cell Carcinoma (OPSCC): Measuring the Impact of the p16 Biomarker on Treatment Outcomes in Alberta

Date
2015-09-24
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Abstract
The incidence of tobacco and alcohol-associated oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma (OPSCC) is declining, while human papillomavirus-related OPSCC is increasing and demonstrates improved survival. This study examined demographic, clinical, and survival differences in patients with OPSCC, based on treatment modality, stratified by p16 status. We assembled a cohort of adult OPSCC patients diagnosed between 2000-2008 in Alberta. Tumour p16 status was measured using fluorescent immunohistochemistry. The cohort (N=357) was predominately male (78%, n=279), Stage III/IV (82%, n=294), and p16-positive (66%, n=76). Surgically-treated p16-negative patients showed significantly improved 5-year disease specific survival, compared to non-surgical, in an unadjusted Kaplan-Meier (56% vs. 19%, respectively; Log-rank test P=0.0415) and adjusted Cox analysis (HR: 0.28; 95% CI: 0.09-0.93; P=0.037). There were no significant differences between surgical and non-surgical treatment across all survival outcomes for p16-positive patients, or in overall or recurrence free survival for p16- negative patients. Patients with p16-negative tumours may benefit from multimodal primary surgical treatment.
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Keywords
Epidemiology, Medicine and Surgery, Oncology
Citation
Hobbs, A. (2015). Predicting Survival in Oropharyngeal Squamous Cell Carcinoma (OPSCC): Measuring the Impact of the p16 Biomarker on Treatment Outcomes in Alberta (Master's thesis, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada). Retrieved from https://prism.ucalgary.ca. doi:10.11575/PRISM/27404