title: Response to therapy and outcomes in oropharyngeal cancer are associated with biomarkers including human papillomavirus, epidermal growth factor receptor, gender, and smoking.
abstract: Induction chemotherapy and concurrent chemoradiation for responders or immediate surgery for non-responders is an effective treatment strategy head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) of the larynx and oropharynx. Biomarkers that predict outcome would be valuable in selecting patients for therapy. In this study, the presence and titer of high risk human papilloma virus (HPV) and expression of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) in pre-treatment biopsies, as well as smoking and gender were examined in oropharynx cancer patients enrolled in an organ sparing trial. HPV16 copy number was positively associated with response to therapy and with overall and disease specific survival, whereas EGFR expression, current or former smoking behavior, and female gender (in this cohort) were associated with poor response and poor survival in multivariate analysis. Smoking cessation and strategies to target EGFR may be useful adjuncts for therapy to improve outcome in the cases with the poorest biomarker profile.
authors.affiliation: Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA.
authors.forename: Bhavna
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Kumar
authors.forename: Kitrina G
authors.initials: KG
authors.lastname: Cordell
authors.forename: Julia S
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Mark E
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Prince
authors.forename: Huong H
authors.initials: HH
authors.lastname: Tran
authors.forename: Gregory T
authors.initials: GT
authors.lastname: Wolf
authors.forename: Susan G
authors.initials: SG
authors.lastname: Urba
authors.forename: Francis P
authors.initials: FP
authors.lastname: Worden
authors.forename: Douglas B
authors.initials: DB
authors.lastname: Chepeha
authors.forename: Theodoros N
authors.initials: TN
authors.lastname: Teknos
authors.forename: Avraham
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Eisbruch
authors.forename: Christina I
authors.initials: CI
authors.lastname: Tsien
authors.forename: Jeremy M G
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Taylor
authors.forename: Nisha J
authors.initials: NJ
authors.lastname: D'Silva
authors.forename: Kun
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: David M
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Kurnit
authors.forename: Carol R
authors.initials: CR
authors.lastname: Bradford
authors.forename: Thomas E
authors.initials: TE
authors.lastname: Carey
mesh_terms: D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / Q000378:metabolism / Q000628:therapy* / Q000821:virology; D066246:ErbB Receptors / Q000378:metabolism*; D005260:Female; D052162:Human papillomavirus 16 / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009363:Neoplasm Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D009959:Oropharyngeal Neoplasms / Q000378:metabolism / Q000628:therapy* / Q000821:virology; D012737:Sex Factors; D012907:Smoking / Q000009:adverse effects*; D016019:Survival Analysis; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D009363:Neoplasm Proteins; D066246:ErbB Receptors