High-risk human papillomavirus and cervical lymph node metastasis in patients with oropharyngeal cancer.

BACKGROUND: The purpose of this study was to determine the role of high-risk human papillomavirus (HPV) in lymph node metastasis and the depth of invasion in oropharyngeal cancer.
METHODS: The study included patients with 90 oral carcinomas and 66 oropharyngeal carcinomas. High-risk HPV in situ hybridization was performed to detect HPV infection.
RESULTS: The positive rate of high-risk HPV in situ hybridization was 15.4% (24 of 156). There was a significant difference in the fraction of positive high-risk HPV between oral (6.7%) and oropharyngeal (27.3%) cancers (p < .000). Significant correlations were found between positive high-risk HPV and cervical lymph node metastasis, tumor depth of invasion in patients with oropharyngeal cancer (p = .002, p = .016, respectively). There was a statistically significant association between high-risk HPV positivity and the disease-specific survival in patients with oropharyngeal cancer (p = .035).
CONCLUSION: High-risk HPV infection was significantly related to cervical lymph node metastasis and depth of invasion in patients with oropharyngeal cancer. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Head Neck, 2012.