Differences in survival outcome between oropharyngeal and oral cavity squamous cell carcinoma in relation to HPV status

Background This study examined the prognostic significance of human papillomavirus (HPV) in patients with oropharyngeal and oral cavity squamous cell carcinoma (SCC). Methods Tissue microarrays were constructed from oropharyngeal and oral cavity SCC (n = 143). The presence of functional HPV in tumour was determined by combined assessments of p16 immunohistochemistry and HPV in situ hybridisation. Results Oropharyngeal SCC patients presented with more advanced disease in comparison with oral cavity SCC patients (P = 0.001). HPV is present in 60% and 61% of oropharyngeal and oral cavity SCC patients, respectively. HPV-positive oropharyngeal SCC patients with advanced TNM stages displayed better overall and disease-free survival outcomes than HPV-negative patients (P = 0.022 and 0.046, respectively). Such survival differences were not observed in oral cavity SCC. Conclusions HPV is common in both oropharyngeal and oral cavity SCC and is associated with better survival outcome in oropharyngeal SCC but not in oral cavity SCC patients.