Salivary HPV Persistence Following Treatment of Oropharyngeal Squamous Cell Carcinoma

xlomafota13 shared this article with you from Inoreader Salivary HPV Persistence Following Treatment of Oropharyngeal Squamous Cell Carcinoma Via otol rhinol Ann Otol Rhinol Laryngol. 2021 Nov 14:34894211055606. doi: 10.1177/00034894211055606. Online ahead of print. ABSTRACT OBJECTIVE: To determine the persistence of human papillomavirus (HPV) infection following treatment of HPV-positive oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma (HPV + OPSCC). METHODS: A cross-sectional study was undertaken at The Ottawa Hospital (Ottawa, ON, Canada), a tertiary academic hospital and regional cancer center. Adult patients who were diagnosed wi th HPV + OPSCC between the years of 2014 and 2016 and treated with curative intent, and who were alive and willing to consent were eligible for inclusion. A saliva assay was used to test for the presence of HPV DNA in a random sample of patients. qPCR was used to amplify DNA from saliva samples. RESULTS: Saliva samples were obtained from 69 patients previously treated with HPV + OPSCC. All patients had a minimum of 2 years of follow-up. 5 patients tested positive for HPV: 2 were positive for HPV-16, 2 for HPV-18, and 1 "other" HPV type. No patient in our study cohort had suffered recurrence post-treatment. CONCLUSIONS: This study is the first to demonstrate the prevalence of persistent oncogenic HPV DNA in saliva following treatment for HPV + OPSCC. This prevalence appears to be low, despite the fact that persistent HPV infection is a precursor for the development of HPV + OPSCC. This finding raises questions about what factors influence the clearance or persistence of H PV DNA in saliva after treatment for HPV + OPSCC, and may add to our understanding about the longitudinal effects of HPV infection in these cancers. PMID:34775815 | DOI:10.1177/00034894211055606 View on the web Inoreader. Take back control of your news feed. Follow us on Twitter and Facebook.