Background: The aim of this study was to assess the impact of the initial therapeutic strategy on oncologic outcomes in patients with HPV-positive OPSCC.
Methods: All p16-positive OPSCCs treated from 2009 to 2014 in 7 centers were retrospectively included and classified according to the therapeutic strategy: surgical strategy (surgery ± adjuvant radiotherapy and chemotherapy) vs. non-surgical strategy (definitive radiotherapy ± chemotherapy). Univariate, multivariate propensity score matching analyses were performed to compare overall (OS), disease-specific (DSS) and recurrence-free survival (RFS).
Results: 382 patients were included (surgical group: 144; non-surgical group: 238). Five-year OS, DSS and RFS were 89.2, 96.8 and 83.9% in the surgical group and 84.2, 87.1 and 70.4% in the non-surgical group, respectively. These differences were statistically significant for DSS and RFS after multivariate analysis, but only for RFS after propensity score matching analysis.
Conclusion: In p16+ OPSCC patients, upfront surgery results in higher RFS than definitive radiotherapy ± chemotherapy but does not impact OS.
Keywords: Cancer; Human papilloma virus; Oropharynx; Radiotherapy; Surgery; Survival.
Copyright © 2020 Elsevier Ltd, BASO ~ The Association for Cancer Surgery, and the European Society of Surgical Oncology. All rights reserved.