Improvement of patient stratification in human papilloma virus-associated oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma by defining a multivariable risk score.

Background: Precise risk stratification models are necessary to determine patient selection for deintensifying treatment trials in human papilloma virus (HPV)-associated oropharyngeal squamous cell cancer (HPV+ OPSCC).

Methods: We examined 526 cases with OPSCC treated at our department between 2002 and 2017. Every patient was classified after the 7th and 8th edition UICC staging manual.