Management of oropharyngeal cancer - UK survey shows variations in practice

摘要

Sir-As recently reported by Oguejiofor and colleagues [1], pl6, a surrogate marker for human papillomavirus (HPV), is the single most important prognostic variable for oropharyngeal cancer. Currently, >70% of oropharyngeal cancers in Europe are HPV-positive [2], with excellent long-term survival rates [3]. The treatment method does not influence survival in non-randomised comparisons [4], but has a significant effect on long-term function [5,6], which is highly relevant in young patients with HPV-related disease.