Biomarkers for early identification of recurrences in HPV-driven oropharyngeal cancer

Publication date: July 2018
Source:Oral Oncology, Volume 82
Author(s): Haitham Mirghani, Krystle A. Lang Kuhs, Tim Waterboer
One of the major concerns in oncology lies in the ability to detect recurrences at their earliest stage to increase the likelihood of cure following second line, or salvage, therapy. Although human papillomavirus (HPV)-driven oropharyngeal cancers have a good prognosis, 20–25% of patients will recur within 5 years of treatment and a significant portion will die from their disease. In recent years, great effort has been put toward evaluating the potential clinical utility of HPV-related biomarkers for early diagnosis of recurrent disease. Indeed, following completion of treatment, detection of HPV-DNA in oral rinses or blood and serologic assays against HPV oncoproteins could be helpful to track residual disease or recurrence. Several recent studies have reported promising findings, thus potentially paving the way for the use of biomarkers in the management of HPV-OPC.In this review, we evaluate and discuss the current knowledge on this topic and provide some directions for future research.



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