Erin McMenamin, MSN, Radiation Oncology, Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, discusses treatments for HPV-positive head and neck cancer, which tends to have a better prognosis than HPV-negative disease.

	McMenamin says treatment options for HPV-positive head and neck cancers include similar treatments to other head and neck cancers. Patients may undergo surgical resection. More commonly today, patients may have TransOral Robotic Surgery (TORS). These newer surgeries prevent the deformities caused by older treatments.

	Depending on the stage of disease, patients may receive radiation postoperatively as well as chemotherapy. These treatments depend on the stage of disease and whether there is node involvement. Chemotherapy tends to be cisplatin-based, just as would be seen with an HPV-negative tumor.

Videos

Erin McMenamin, MSN, Radiation Oncology, Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, discusses treatments for HPV-positive head and neck cancer, which tends to have a better prognosis than HPV-negative head and neck cancers.

Erin McMenamin on Head and Neck Cancer Treatments

Erin McMenamin, MSN, Radiation Oncology, Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, discusses the prognosis for patients with human papillomavirus (HPV)-positive squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck.

HPV-positive head and neck tumors generally have a better prognosis than HPV-negative tumors. HPV-positive patients that are non-smokers or have smoked less than 10 year with low nodal involvement are at low-risk of recurrence. However, those that are HPV-positive, smoke, and have high nodal involvement are at high-risk of recurrence.

Patients with HPV-negative head and neck cancer are generally high-risk patients, since this form of cancer is commonly a direct result of smoking, which alters the histology of the oral cavity making it more susceptible to recurrence or other primary tumors. The lowest risk level an HPV-negative tumor is able to achieve is intermediate, for T1 or T2 sized tumors.

Erin McMenamin, MSN, from the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, on HPV-related Head & Neck Cancer Prognosis


Erin McMenamin, MSN

Articles

Erin McMenamin on Head and Neck Cancer Treatments

Erin McMenamin on HPV-related Head & Neck Cancer