Methodology of cfHPV-DNA Detection in Head and Neck Cancer: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.

Objective: We aim to compare the diagnostic accuracy of the different methodologies used in the detection of cell-free human papillomavirus (HPV) DNA in HPV-associated head and neck squamous cell carcinoma detection using bivariate analysis methods.

Data Sources: Pubmed, Embase, and Scopus were queried using a broad search strategy to search for relevant studies.

Review Methods: Test characteristics were extracted from 33 studies following literature screening, and underwent analyses utilizing a bivariate approach.

Allergy History and Immunotherapy Response in Patients With Recurrent/Metastatic Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma.

Objective: This study examines the association between patient-reported allergy history and immune checkpoint inhibition (ICI) response in patients with recurrent or metastatic head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (RMHNSCC).

Study Design: Retrospective cohort study.

Setting: Academic tertiary care hospital.

Node Count as a Quality Indicator in Surgically Treated Mucosal Head and Neck Squamous Cell Cancer.

Introduction: A yield of ≥18 nodes from neck dissection has been shown to be associated with improved locoregional recurrence rates and survival. We sought to determine factors associated with lymph node yields below this threshold.

Materials And Methods: A retrospective review of patients who underwent neck dissection as part of definitive surgical treatment for mucosal head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) between January 2015 and December 2018 at an academic tertiary referral center was performed.

Peri-Operative Pain and Opioid Use in Opioid-Naïve Patients Following Inpatient Head and Neck Surgery.

Pain management is an important consideration for Head and Neck Cancer (HNC) patients as they are at an increased risk of developing chronic opioid use, which can negatively impact both quality of life and survival outcomes. This retrospective cohort study aimed to evaluate pain, opioid use and opioid prescriptions following HNC surgery. Participants included patients undergoing resection of a head and neck tumor from 2019-2020 at a single academic center with a length of admission (LOA) of at least 24 h.

Surgeon Volume and Laryngectomy Outcomes.

Objective: To examine the relationship between surgeon volume and operative morbidity and mortality for laryngectomy.

Data Sources: The Nationwide Inpatient Sample was used to identify 45,156 patients who underwent laryngectomy procedures for laryngeal or hypopharyngeal cancer between 2001 and 2011. Hospital and surgeon laryngectomy volume were modeled as categorical variables.

Tumor Histological Grade and Immunotherapy Response in Patients With Recurrent or Metastatic Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma.

Importance: Tumor histological factors that predict immunotherapy response in patients with recurrent or metastatic head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) are not well defined.

Objective: To investigate the association between tumor grade and immunotherapy response in patients with recurrent or metastatic mucosal HNSCC.

Design, Setting, And Participants: In this retrospective cohort study, the medical records of 60 patients with recurrent or metastatic mucosal HNSCC treated with immune checkpoint inhibitors at Johns Hopkins Hospital between July 1, 2015, and January 22, 2020, were reviewed.

Nutritional Status as a Predictive Biomarker for Immunotherapy Outcomes in Advanced Head and Neck Cancer.

The association between pretreatment nutritional status and immunotherapy response in patients with advanced head and neck cancer is unclear. We retrospectively analyzed a cohort of 99 patients who underwent treatment with anti-PD-1 or anti-CTLA-4 antibodies (or both) for stage IV HNSCC between 2014 and 2020 at the Johns Hopkins Hospital. Patient demographics and clinical characteristics were retrieved from electronic medical records.

Neoadjuvant immunotherapy prior to surgery for mucosal head and neck squamous cell carcinoma: Systematic review.

Given the recent successes of anti-PD-1 immunotherapy, many clinical trials have sought to assess the safety and efficacy of this treatment modality in the neoadjuvant setting. This systematic review provides a comprehensive summary of findings from neoadjuvant head and neck cancer immunotherapy clinical trials with a focus on PD-1/PD-L1 axis blockade. Pubmed, Embase, Cochrane Library, Web of Science, Google Scholar, and clinicaltrials.

Association of Tumor Site With the Prognosis and Immunogenomic Landscape of Human Papillomavirus-Related Head and Neck and Cervical Cancers.

Importance: Human papillomavirus (HPV)-positive status in patients with oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma (OPSCC) is associated with improved survival compared with HPV-negative status. However, it remains controversial whether HPV is associated with improved survival among patients with nonoropharyngeal and cervical squamous cell tumors.

Objective: To investigate differences in the immunogenomic landscapes of HPV-associated tumors across anatomical sites (the head and neck and the cervix) and their association with survival.

Biologic and behavioral associations of estrogen receptor alpha positivity in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma.

Objectives: Tumor HPV status is an established independent prognostic marker for oropharynx cancer (OPC). Recent studies have reported that tumor estrogen receptor alpha (ERα) positivity is also associated with prognosis independent of HPV. Little is known about the biologic and behavioral predictors of ERα positivity in head and neck squamous cell cancer (HNSCC).

Programmed Death-1/Programmed Death-Ligand 1-Axis Blockade in Recurrent or Metastatic Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma Stratified by Human Papillomavirus Status: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

Background: Programmed death-1/programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-1/PD-L1) inhibitors have provided clinical benefit to head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) patients in recent clinical trials. However, it remains unclear as to whether human papillomavirus (HPV) status is associated with improved clinical outcome of anti-PD-1 or anti-PD-L1 immunotherapy in HNSCC.

Methods: PubMed, EMBASE, Cochrane Library, and Web of Science were systematically searched up to February 28, 2021.

Mutations in and differentially affect the tumor microenvironment and response to checkpoint blockade immunotherapy.

Immune checkpoint blockade (ICB) has improved outcomes for patients with advanced cancer, but the determinants of response remain poorly understood. Here we report differential effects of mutations in the homologous recombination genes BRCA1 and BRCA2 on response to ICB in mouse and human tumors, and further show that truncating mutations in BRCA2 are associated with superior response compared to those in BRCA1. Mutations in BRCA1 and BRCA2 result in distinct mutational landscapes and differentially modulate the tumor-immune microenvironment, with gene expression programs related to both adaptive and innate immunity enriched in BRCA2-deficient tumors.

Melanoma metastatic to the hyoid bone.

Metastatic melanoma may be included in the differential diagnosis of hyoid masses in patients with a history of melanoma. Hyoid resection is well tolerated and of diagnostic and therapeutic benefit in patients with tumors metastatic to the hyoid bone.

Timing, number, and type of sexual partners associated with risk of oropharyngeal cancer.

Background: Case-control studies from the early 2000s demonstrated that human papillomavirus-related oropharyngeal cancer (HPV-OPC) is a distinct entity associated with number of oral sex partners. Using contemporary data, we investigated novel risk factors (sexual debut behaviors, exposure intensity, and relationship dynamics) and serological markers on odds of HPV-OPC.

Methods: HPV-OPC patients and frequency-matched controls were enrolled in a multicenter study from 2013 to 2018.

An Immunogenomic Investigation of Oral Cavity Squamous Cell Carcinoma in Patients Aged 45 Years and Younger.

Objectives/hypothesis: To investigate differences in the immunogenomic landscape among young patients presenting with oral cavity squamous cell carcinoma (OCSCC).

Study Design: Retrospective database review.

Methods: Normalized messenger mRNA expression data were downloaded from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database.

Drain placement in thyroidectomy is associated with longer hospital stay without preventing hematoma.

Objective: To analyze the effect of drain placement on postoperative hematoma formation and other associated outcomes post-thyroid surgery in a large national cohort.

Methods: This was a retrospective study that analyzed data from the 2016-2017 National Surgical Quality Improvement Program (NSQIP) public use files. Baseline characteristics and perioperative outcomes were compared between drain and no drain cohorts.

Association Between Hospital Market Concentration and Costs of Laryngectomy.

Importance: High-volume hospital care for laryngectomy has been shown to be associated with reduced morbidity, mortality, and costs; however, most hospitals in the United States do not perform high volumes of laryngectomies. The influence of market competition on charges and costs for such patients has not been defined.

Objective: To examine the association between regional hospital market concentration, hospital charges, and costs for laryngectomy.

Genetic diversity of tumors with mismatch repair deficiency influences anti-PD-1 immunotherapy response.

Tumors with mismatch repair deficiency (MMR-d) are characterized by sequence alterations in microsatellites and can accumulate thousands of mutations. This high mutational burden renders tumors immunogenic and sensitive to programmed cell death-1 (PD-1) immune checkpoint inhibitors. Yet, despite their tumor immunogenicity, patients with MMR-deficient tumors experience highly variable responses, and roughly half are refractory to treatment.

Immunogenic neoantigens derived from gene fusions stimulate T cell responses.

Anti-tumor immunity is driven by self versus non-self discrimination. Many immunotherapeutic approaches to cancer have taken advantage of tumor neoantigens derived from somatic mutations. Here, we demonstrate that gene fusions are a source of immunogenic neoantigens that can mediate responses to immunotherapy.

The prognostic impact of pathologic lymph nodes in HPV-positive oropharyngeal cancers.

Purpose: Recent pathologic staging of HPV-positive oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinomas (OPSCC) is solely dependent on number of pathologic nodes. Using a large dataset, we aimed to understand how increase in pathologic lymph nodes (LN) associated with overall survival.

Materials And Methods: National Cancer Database was queried for HPV-positive OPSCC patients undergoing primary surgery with LN dissection between 2010 and 2013.

Sex differences in HPV immunity among adults without cancer.

The incidence of human papillomavirus (HPV)-associated head and neck cancers is rising, particularly among men. Whether observed epidemiological differences in sex are explained by differences in sexual exposure and/or by immune response is unclear. In this cross-sectional, multi-institutional study, seroprevalence of antibodies to HPV L1 capsid antigen was compared by patient characteristics among 374 adult patients without cancer.

Tumor and Microenvironment Evolution during Immunotherapy with Nivolumab.

The mechanisms by which immune checkpoint blockade modulates tumor evolution during therapy are unclear. We assessed genomic changes in tumors from 68 patients with advanced melanoma, who progressed on ipilimumab or were ipilimumab-naive, before and after nivolumab initiation (CA209-038 study). Tumors were analyzed by whole-exome, transcriptome, and/or T cell receptor (TCR) sequencing.

Effect of transcervical arterial ligation on the severity of postoperative hemorrhage after transoral robotic surgery.

Background: The value of transcervical arterial ligation during transoral robotic surgery (TORS) as a measure to decrease postoperative bleeding incidence or severity is unclear.

Methods: A retrospective single institution study was performed to identify risk factors for hemorrhage after TORS for oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma (SCC).

Results: Overall, 13.