HPV Associated Head and Neck Cancer
1
Department of Radiation Oncology, Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, University Health Network, Toronto, ON M5G 2M9, Canada
2
Department of Medical Biophysics, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON M5G 1L7, Canada
3
Department of Radiation Oncology, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON M5T 1P5, Canada
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Academic Editor: David Wong
Cancers 2016, 8(8), 75; https://doi.org/10.3390/cancers8080075
Received: 29 June 2016 / Revised: 26 July 2016 / Accepted: 2 August 2016 / Published: 5 August 2016
(This article belongs to the Special Issue HPV Associated Cancers)
Head and neck cancers (HNCs) are a highly heterogeneous group of tumours that are associated with diverse clinical outcomes. Recent evidence has demonstrated that human papillomavirus (HPV) is involved in up to 25% of HNCs; particularly in the oropharyngeal carcinoma (OPC) subtype where it can account for up to 60% of such cases. HPVs are double-stranded DNA viruses that infect epithelial cells; numerous HPV subtypes, including 16, 18, 31, 33, and 35, drive epithelial cell transformation and tumourigenesis. HPV positive (HPV+) HNC represents a distinct molecular and clinical entity from HPV negative (HPV−) disease; the biological basis for which remains to be fully elucidated. HPV positivity is strongly correlated with a significantly superior outcome; indicating that such tumours should have a distinct management approach. This review focuses on the recent scientific and clinical investigation of HPV+ HNC. In particular, we discuss the importance of molecular and clinical evidence for defining the role of HPV in HNC, and the clinical impact of HPV status as a biomarker for HNC.
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Keywords:
biomarker; head and neck cancer; head and neck squamous cell carcinoma; human papillomavirus; (HPV+); HPV negative (HPV−); microRNA; oropharyngeal carcinoma; prognosis
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MDPI and ACS Style
Spence, T.; Bruce, J.; Yip, K.W.; Liu, F.-F. HPV Associated Head and Neck Cancer. Cancers 2016, 8, 75. https://doi.org/10.3390/cancers8080075
AMA Style
Spence T, Bruce J, Yip KW, Liu F-F. HPV Associated Head and Neck Cancer. Cancers. 2016; 8(8):75. https://doi.org/10.3390/cancers8080075
Chicago/Turabian StyleSpence, Tara; Bruce, Jeff; Yip, Kenneth W.; Liu, Fei-Fei. 2016. "HPV Associated Head and Neck Cancer" Cancers 8, no. 8: 75. https://doi.org/10.3390/cancers8080075
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