Biological factors driving clinical outcomes in HPV+ oropharyngeal cancer

Existing literature indicates significant differences in outcomes among patients with HPV+ OPSCC, with some groups experiencing poorer survival rates. Our analysis of two independent OPSCC cohorts from Cleveland supports these findings; patients identified as p16+ in one group had a 64% and 69% lower risk of death compared to another p16+ patient group at the University Hospitals Seidman Cancer Center and MetroHealth System, respectively. Interestingly, time to treatment initiation, defined as the number of days between pathologic diagnosis and the start of treatment, was statistically similar between these groups in both cohorts. This suggests that differences in access to medical care are not the primary contributor to the observed survival difference. While clinical outcomes in OPSCC are multifaceted and influenced by various interconnected factors, our findings highlight the potential role of biological differences in contributing to the survival gap between these patient populations. Our Cleveland-based OPSCC study cohort consists of 562 patients, including 74 individuals from this high-risk subgroup, representing the largest such cohort studied to date with HPV status based on NGS. Our proposed work, which leverages our robust OPSCC cohort, aims to provide valuable insights into the biological factors, such as HPV status, HPV genotype, and tumor-immune microenvironment landscape, which may contribute to the observed differences in clinical outcomes. Project Number: 1R37CA302718-01 | Fiscal Year: 2025 | NIH Institute/Center: National Cancer Institute (NCI) | Principal Investigator: Wendi O'Neill | Institution: CASE WESTERN RESERVE UNIVERSITY, CLEVELAND, OH | Award Amount: $510,650 | Activity Code: R37 | Study Section: Basic Mechanisms of Cancer Health Disparities Study Section[BMCD] View on NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/11204140