• Bernhard G Weiss, Mahalia Zoe Anczykowski, Stefan Küffer, Jennifer L Spiegel, Mattis Bertlich, Martin Canis, Friedrich Ihler, Julia Kitz, and Mark Jakob.
• Department of Otorhinolaryngology, LMU University Hospital, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Marchioninistr. 15, 81377, Munich, Germany. Bernhard.Weiss@med.uni-muenchen.de.
• Eur Arch Otorhinolaryngol. 2021 Jun 1; 278 (6): 1983-2000.

Purposep16 overexpression was considered as surrogate marker to identify human papillomavirus (HPV)-associated oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma (OPSCCs).Methods102 patients with advanced stage OPSCCs treated primarily by transoral lasermicrosurgery were included. Prognostic associations of p16- and HPV-status were analyzed separately and combined.ResultsIn contrast to p16, the HPV-status resulted in no significant survival discrepancies (5-year overall survival (OS) HPV-positive 64.9%, HPV-negative 78.7%). Combining both markers, p16-positive (p16-positive/HPV-positive, p16-positive/HPV-negative) and p16-negative/HPV-negative groups demonstrated comparable high survival (OS 78.1% vs. 85.6% vs. 73.6%). Lowest survival was observed for patients with p16-negative/HPV-positive OPSCCs (OS 40.8%). Never smoking patients with p16-positive OPSCCs demonstrated the highest survival, whereas within former/current smokers with p16-positive and p16-negative disease it was comparable low (OS 90.0% vs. 63.0% vs. 57.4%).Conclusionsp16- and HPV-status should not be considered as equivalent markers for a better prognosis. Furthermore, they should not generally predominate patient associated factors like smoking.

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