Table 1.
Baseline characteristics of HPV-positive patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (n = 152)
| Variable | No. (%) |
|---|---|
| Age at diagnosis, median (range) | 58 (29–83) |
| Gender | |
| Male | 125 (82.2) |
| Female | 27 (17.8) |
| Smoking status at diagnosis | |
| Current | 19 (12.5) |
| Ex-smoker | 47 (30.9) |
| Never smoker | 75 (49.3) |
| Unknown | 11 (7.2) |
| No. of pack-year, mean (range) | 10.9 (0–55) |
| ≥ 10 pack-year | 46 (33.8) |
| < 10 pack-year | 90 (66.2) |
| Alcohol (no. per week), mean (range) | 0.3 (0–5) |
| Unknown | 7 (4.6) |
| Comorbiditya | |
| Yes | 62 (40.8) |
| No | 90 (59.2) |
| ECOG PS | |
| 0 | 80 (52.6) |
| 1 | 66 (43.4) |
| 2 | 6 (4.0) |
| Primary tumor location | |
| Oropharynx | 129 (84.8) |
| Hypopharynx | 5 (3.3) |
| Larynx | 1 (0.7) |
| Oral cavity | 16 (10.5) |
| Othersb | 1 (0.7) |
| Staging | |
| Tumor classification | |
| T0 | 3 (2.0) |
| T1 | 36 (24.0) |
| T2 | 72 (48.0) |
| T3 | 18 (12.0) |
| T4 | 21 (14.0) |
| Nodal classification | |
| N0 | 20 (13.3) |
| N1 | 21 (14.0) |
| N2 | 103 (68.7) |
| N3 | 6 (4.0) |
| TNM stage | |
| I–III | 38 (25.4) |
| IV | 112 (74.7) |
| Pathology | |
| Well differentiated | 17 (11.2) |
| Moderately differentiated | 56 (36.8) |
| Poorly differentiated | 33 (21.7) |
| Othersc | 46 (30.3) |
| Induction chemotherapy | |
| Received | 52 (34.2) |
| Not received | 100 (65.8) |
| Definitive treatment | |
| Radical CCRT | 68 (44.7) |
| Radical RT | 16 (10.5) |
| Surgery only | 13 (8.5) |
| Surgery followed by RT | 34 (22.4) |
| Surgery followed by CCRT | 20 (13.2) |
| Palliative chemotherapy | 1 (0.7) |
| HPV test method | |
| Liquid-bead microarray | 57 (37.5) |
| DNA chip | 95 (62.5) |
| HPV genotyping | |
| HPV genotype 16 | |
| Positive | 111 (73.0) |
| Negative | 41 (27.0) |
| HPV genotype 18 | |
| Positive | 22 (14.5) |
| Negative | 130 (85.5) |
| HPV genotyped | |
| High-risk | 134 (88.2) |
| Low-risk only | 11 (7.2) |
| Unknown | 7 (4.6) |
| p16 status | |
| Strong positive | 82 (54.0) |
| Negative | 23 (15.1) |
| Not tested (unknown) | 47 (30.9) |
HPV, human papillomavirus; ECOG, Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group; PS, performance status; TNM, tumour, node, metastasis; CCRT, concurrent chemoradiation therapy; RT, radiation therapy.
a
Comorbidities includes diabetes mellitus, hypertension, ischemic heart disease, liver cirrhosis, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, brain hemorrhage or stroke.
b
Other site was salivary gland cancer with pathologic type of squamous cell carcinoma.
c
Other pathologic types consist of undifferentiated type, nonkeratinizing type, not otherwise specif ied, and unknown type.
d
Multiple HPV infections (n = 21, 13.8%) of 152 study patients.