Skip to main content
. 2020 Sep 23;20:912. doi: 10.1186/s12885-020-07427-7

Table 1.

Patients, tumor and treatment characteristics

Variable p16+/HPV+
N (%)
p16−/HPV-
N (%)
p-value
N = 546 (89.4%) N = 65 (10.6%)
Age p = 0.84
  < 50 86 (15.8) 11 (16.9)
 50- < 60 231 (42.3) 25 (38.5)
  ≥ 60 229 (41.9) 29 (44.6)
Sex p < 0.0001*
 Male 473 (86.6) 44 (67.7)
 Female 73 (13.4) 21 (32.3)
Race p = 0.08
 White 505 (92.5) 56 (86.2)
 Non-white 41 (7.5) 9 (13.8)
Cancer subsite of origin p = 0.8
 Base of tongue 250 (45.8) 27 (41.5)
 Tonsil 252 (46.2) 26 (40)
 Other 44 (8) 12 (18.5)
CCI p = 0.7
 0 (No comorbidity) 436 (80) 49 (75)
  ≥ 1 (At least one comorbidity) 110 (20) 16 (25)
T-category p = 0.09
 T1 168 (30.8) 17 (26.2)
 T2 211 (38.6) 18 (27.6)
 T3 98 (17.9) 15 (23.1)
 T4 69 (12.7) 15 (23.1)
N-category p < 0.0001*
 N0 39 (7.1) 8 (12.3)
 N1 373 (68.3) 10 (15.4)
 N2 121 (22.2) 45 (69.2)
 N3 13 (2.4) 2 (3.1)
AJCC (8th edition) p < 0.0001*
 I 316 (57.9) 1 (1.5)
 II 149 (27.3) 4 (6.2)
 III 81 (14.8) 13 (20.0)
 IV 0 47 (72.3)
Smoking status at diagnosis < 0.0001
 Current smoker 101 (18.5) 25 (38.46)
 Former smoker 208 (38.1) 28 (43.08)
 Never smoker 249 (40.75) 12 (18.46)
Tobacco exposure (PY) p < 0.0001*
 0 277 (50.7) 13 (20)
  > 0–10 87 (15.9) 6 (9.2)
  > 10–20 50 (9.2) 8 (12.3)
  > 20–30 46 (8.4) 11 (17)
  > 30 86 (15.8) 27 (41.5)
Tobacco exposure per AJCC (8th edition) stage p < 0.0001
 I/pack-years < 30 263 (48.2) 1 (1.5)
 I/pack-years ≥30 53 (9.7) 0
 II/pack-years < 30 113 (20.7) 1 (1.5)
 II/pack-years ≥30 36 (6.6) 3 (4.6)
 III/pack-years < 30 59 (10.8) 4 (6.2)
 III/pack-years ≥30 22 (4) 9 (13.8)
 IV/pack-years < 30 0 27 (41.6)
 IV/pack-years ≥30 0 20 (30.8)
Chemotherapy (Cth) sequence p = 0.94
 No Cth 99 (18.1) 12 (18.5)
 Induction Cth (IC) only 82 (15.0) 8 (12.2)
 Concurrent Cth (CC) only 210 (38.5) 25 (38.5)
 IC + CC 155 (28.4) 20 (30.8)

Abbreviations: EBRT external beam radiation therapy, IC induction chemotherapy, CEBRT concurrent chemotherapy + EBRT. * indicates p < 0.05 when comparing the HPV+ and HPV- groups