Human papillomavirus integration pattern and demographic, clinical, and survival characteristics of patients with oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma.

BACKGROUND In human papillomavirus (HPV)-associated oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma (SCC), reported rates of HPV integration into the host genome vary. Among patients with oropharyngeal SCC, we determined differences in demographic, clinical, and survival characteristics between those with integrated and episomal HPV. METHODS The analysis included patients with newly diagnosed oropharyngeal SCC presenting to one institution during 1996 to 2011. HPV-positive samples were classified according to HPV physical state as integrated, episomal, or mixed. Overall, progression-free, and disease-specific survival, distant metastasis rate, and second primary malignancy rate were calculated. RESULTS Among 307 patients, 179 had HPV-positive tumors. Of these, 22 (12%) had episomal, 42 (24%) had integrated, and 115 (64%) had mixed HPV. Among the 3 subgroups, there were no significant differences in demographic, clinical, or survival characteristics. CONCLUSION The majority of HPV-positive oropharyngeal SCCs have either integrated or both episomal and integrated HPV with no significant differences in survival among the groups. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Head Neck 38:1139-1144, 2016.