Patient perceptions underlying ctDNA molecular surveillance for HPV(+) oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma.

OBJECTIVE: Circulating tumor DNA assays have robust potential as molecular surveillance tools. They may also exacerbate patient distress without improving outcomes. We investigate patient acceptability of a validated ctHPVDNA assay (NavDx) during cancer surveillance for HPV(+) oropharyngeal cancer (OPC). METHODS: Consented HPV(+) OPC participants completed the NCCN Distress Thermometer, the Hospital Anxiety Depression Scale (HADS), and the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-General (FACT-G) scale both (1) before NavDx blood draw, and (2) after results were provided. Patients then completed a series of focused questions related to their perceptions of the assay. RESULTS: Overall, 55 patients completed the study, with 98.2 % showing no recurrence. For the NCCN Distress Thermometer, median patient distress decreased (2.0 (IQR 1-5) vs. 1.0 (IQR 0-3)) (p < 0.001) in association with NavDx. Using scores ≥ 4 as a cutoff point to define clinically elevated distress, scores also improved (36.4 % vs. 18.2 %, p = 0.031). For HADS, anxiety significantly improved (5.0 (IQR 2.0-7.0) vs. 3.0 (IQR 1.0-6.5)) (p = 0.037), but not depression (3.0 (IQR 1.0-7.0) vs. 3.0 (IQR 1.0-6.5)) (p = 0.870). FACT-G scores showed no substantial differences. On survey questionnaires, 95.5 % of patients believed the test to be helpful, and 100 % felt "somewhat" or "extremely" confident in the assay as a monitoring tool. While 59.1 % felt that it reduced anxiety, 88.4 % concordantly felt that it did not introduce anxiety. CONCLUSION: ctHPVDNA as a molecular surveillance tool reduced distress levels in HPV(+) OPC patients, with notably high patient confidence in the approach. Further investigation is warranted to judiciously incorporate this emerging modality in surveillance guidelines.

Nodal Metastasis Count and Oncologic Outcomes in Head and Neck Cancer: A Secondary Analysis of NRG/RTOG 9501, NRG/RTOG 0234, and EORTC 22931.

PURPOSE: A better understanding of the relationship between the spread of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) to regional lymph nodes (LNs) and the frequency and manner of treatment failure should help design better treatment intensification strategies. In this study, we evaluated the relationship between recurrence patterns, mortality, and number of pathologically positive (+) LNs in HNSCC in 3 prospective randomized controlled trials. METHODS AND MATERIALS: We performed a secondary analysis of 947 patients with HNSCC enrolled in RTOG 9501 (n = 410), RTOG 0234 (n = 203), and EORTC 22931 (n = 334) undergoing surgery and postoperative radiation ± systemic therapy. Multivariable models were constructed for overall survival (OS), disease-free survival (DFS), locoregional relapse (LRR), and distant metastases (DM). Restricted cubic splines were used to model the nonlinear relationship between +LN number and outcomes. RESULTS: In multivariable analysis, OS and DFS decreased with each +LN without plateau, most pronounced up to 5 +LNs (OS: hazard ratio [HR], 1.21 per +LN; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.10-1.34; P < .001; DFS: HR per +LN, 1.19; 95% CI, 1.08-1.30; P < .001) and more gradually beyond this (OS: HR per +LN, 1.02; 95% CI, 1.01-1.06; P < .001; DFS: HR per +LN, 1.04; 95% CI, 1.02-1.06; P < .001). In contrast to LRR risk, which increased sharply up to 5 +LNs (HR per +LN, 1.28; 95% CI, 1.10-1.50; P < .001) but plateaued beyond this (HR per +LN, 1.00; 95% CI, 0.96-1.04; P = .98), DM risk increased continuously with increasing +LNs (≤5 +LNs: HR per +LN, 1.10; 95% CI, 1.01-1.20; P = .04; >5 +LNs: HR per +LN, 1.05; 95% CI, 1.02-1.08; P = .003). CONCLUSIONS: In high-risk resected HNSCC, increased mortality was associated with increased +LN count. LRR and DM risk both increased in parallel up to 5 +LNs, but only DM continued to increase for further +LN increases. These differing recurrence patterns can help inform design of future treatments.

Quantitative Nodal Burden and Mortality Across Solid Cancers.

BACKGROUND: Nodal staging systems vary substantially across solid tumors, implying heterogeneity in the behavior of nodal variables in various contexts. We hypothesized, in contradiction to this, that metastatic lymph node (LN) number is a universal and dominant predictor of outcome across solid tumors. METHODS: We performed a retrospective cohort analysis of 1 304 498 patients in the National Cancer Database undergoing surgery between 2004 and 2015 across 16 solid cancer sites. Multivariable Cox regression analyses were constructed using restricted cubic splines to model the association between nodal number and mortality. Recursive partitioning analysis (RPA) was used to derive nodal classification systems for each solid cancer based on metastatic LN count. The reproducibility of these findings was assessed in 1 969 727 patients from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results registry. Two-sided tests were used for all statistical analyses. RESULTS: Consistently across disease sites, mortality risk increased continuously with increasing number of metastatic LNs (P < .001 for all spline segments). Each RPA-derived nodal classification system produced multiple prognostic groups spanning a wide spectrum of mortality risk (P < .001). Multivariable models using these RPA-derived nodal classifications demonstrated improved concordance with mortality compared with models using American Joint Committee on Cancer staging in sites where nodal classification is not based on metastatic LN count. Each RPA-derived nodal classification system was reproducible in a large validation cohort for all-cause and cause-specific mortality (P < .001). High quantitative nodal burden was the single strongest tumor-intrinsic variable associated with mortality in 12 of 16 disease sites. CONCLUSIONS: Quantitative metastatic LN burden is a fundamental driver of mortality across solid cancers and should serve as a foundation for pathologic nodal staging across solid tumors.

Variations in the association of grade with survival across the head and neck cancer landscape.

BACKGROUND: Although pathologic tumor grade is a well-established prognostic risk factor that impacts staging and treatment decisions across multiple cancer types, its role in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) is less certain. METHODS: HNSCC patients diagnosed from 2010 to 2015 and undergoing primary surgery in the National Cancer Data Base were identified. Propensity score matching and multivariable Cox regression were performed. RESULTS: Among 27 041 HNSCC patients, 13 941 had oral cavity cancers (OCC). Intermediate-grade (hazard ratio [HR] 1.16, 95% CI 1.07-1.26, P < .001) and high-grade (HR 1.38, 95% CI 1.26-1.52, P < .001) tumors had worse survival than low-grade tumors. This magnitude was comparable to other well-established prognostic factors, including margin positivity, extranodal extension, and lymphovascular invasion. By contrast, there was no association between grade and survival in larynx/hypopharynx or HPV(-) oropharynx cancer. CONCLUSIONS: The prognostic impact of pathologic grade is highly variable across head and neck subsites and is the strongest among OCC patients.

The role of concomitant chemoradiotherapy in AJCC 7th edition T1-2N1 oropharyngeal carcinoma in the human papillomavirus era.

BACKGROUND: Radiotherapy (RT) without chemotherapy is considered a standard of care for the management of American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) 7th edition (7E) T1-2N1 oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma (OPSCC). Recent data suggests concurrent chemoradiation (CCRT) may benefit these patients but did not include human papillomavirus (HPV) status. Given the radiosensitivity differences between HPV-positive versus HPV-negative OPSCC, the effect of chemotherapy may differ in these patients. METHODS: We analyzed patients in the National Cancer Database diagnosed between 2010 and 2015 with AJCC 7E stage cT1-2N1M0 OPSCC and known HPV status undergoing definitive RT or CCRT. RESULTS: Overall, 1964 patients were included, including 1297 (66%) HPV-positive and 667 (34%) HPV-negative patients. 66% received CCRT and 34% received RT alone. In multivariate analysis, CCRT was associated with improved survival compared with RT alone (hazard ratio [HR], 0.70; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.57-0.87; P = 0.001). In propensity score-matched cohorts, 4-year overall survival was 87.4% vs 78.4% in HPV-positive patients receiving CCRT and RT alone, respectively (P = 0.002), and 65.5% vs 58.9% in HPV-negative patients, respectively (P = 0.2). There was no evidence that HPV-positivity diminished the association between CCRT and longer survival (HR, 0.57; 95% CI, 0.42-0.81) versus what was observed in HPV-negative patients (HR, 0.86; 95% CI, 0.64-1.16) (interaction P = 0.06). CONCLUSIONS: CCRT is associated with improved survival in AJCC 7E T1-2N1 OPSCC. Despite the radiosensitivity of HPV-positive OPSCC, the association of CCRT with improved survival for T1-2N1 HPV-positive OPSCC was at least as strong, if not stronger, than what was observed in HPV-negative patients.

Survival outcomes with concomitant chemoradiotherapy in older adults with oropharyngeal carcinoma in an era of increasing human papillomavirus (HPV) prevalence.

BACKGROUND: Human papillomavirus (HPV)-positive oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma (OPSCC) has dramatically increased in incidence and prevalence among patients aged 70 and older. There are virtually no data regarding outcomes in this population, and thus optimal therapy, including the role of chemotherapy for those undergoing radiotherapy (RT), remains unclear. METHODS: The National Cancer Database was queried for older adults (defined as age 70 years and older) with locally advanced OPSCC (cT1-2N1-3, cT3-4N0-3) diagnosed from 2010 to 2014 with known HPV-status undergoing definitive RT alone or chemoradiation (CRT). RESULTS: Overall, 1,965 older adults with locally advanced OPSCC met inclusion criteria, including 1,141 HPV-positive (58%) and 824 HPV-negative (42%) patients. 1,211 patients (62%) received CRT. In multivariable analysis, CRT was associated with improved survival in older patients when compared to RT alone (hazard ratio [HR] = 0.74, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.64-0.86, P < 0.001). CRT was associated with improved survival in both HPV-positive (HR = 0.80, 95% CI: 0.64-1.00, P = 0.05) and HPV-negative (HR = 0.69, 95% CI: 0.56-0.85, P < 0.001) subgroups. There was no significant interaction between HPV status and the impact of CRT on survival (P interaction = 0.57). CONCLUSIONS: Despite the radiosensitivity of HPV-positive OPSCC and the challenges in delivering CRT to older adults, CRT was associated with improved survival in older patients with HPV-positive OPSCC, similar in magnitude to the benefit in HPV-negative patients. As the incidence of HPV-positive OPSCC in older patients continues to increase, further studies are needed to investigate optimal therapeutic strategies in this population.

AHNS Series: Do you know your guidelines? Principles for treatment of cancer of the paranasal sinuses: A review of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network guidelines.

This article is a continuation of the "Do You Know Your Guidelines" series. This was launched as an initiative of the American Head and Neck Society to increase the awareness of current best practices pertaining to head and neck cancer. The National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) guidelines for managing cancer of the paranasal sinuses are reviewed in a systematic fashion. These guidelines outline the workup, treatment, and surveillance of patients with cancer of the maxillary and ethmoid sinuses.

Development of a novel salivary gland cancer lymph node staging system.

BACKGROUND: Current lymph node (LN) staging for salivary gland cancer (SGC) is extrapolated from mucosal head and neck squamous cell carcinoma. However, given its unique biology and clinical behavior, it is possible that a SGC-specific LN staging system would be more accurate. METHODS: Patients from the National Cancer Data Base with nonmetastatic SGC of the head and neck who were diagnosed from 2004 through 2013 and underwent surgical resection and neck dissection removing at least 10 LNs were included. Multivariable models were constructed to assess the association between survival and LN factors, including number of metastatic LNs, extranodal extension, LN size, and lower LN involvement. RESULTS: Overall, 4520 patients met the inclusion criteria. An increasing number of metastatic LNs was found to be strongly associated with worse survival without plateau. The risk of death increased more rapidly up to 4 LNs (hazard ratio, 1.34; 95% confidence interval, 1.27-1.41 [P < .001]), and was more gradual for additional LNs >4 (hazard ratio, 1.02; 95% confidence interval, 1.01-1.03 [P < .001]). LN size, extranodal extension, and lower LN involvement appeared to have no impact on survival when accounting for the number of metastatic LNs. Recursive partitioning analysis was used to create a novel SGC LN staging system in which N0 indicates 0 positive LNs, N1 indicates 1 to 2 positive LNs, N2 indicates 3 to 21 positive LNs, and N3 indicates ≥ 22 positive LNs. This system exhibited greater concordance than the current American Joint Committee on Cancer (eighth edition) system. CONCLUSIONS: Quantitative LN burden is an important determinant of survival in patients with SGC. Use of this variable may improve SGC staging. Cancer 2018. © 2018 American Cancer Society.

Quantitative survival impact of composite treatment delays in head and neck cancer.

BACKGROUND: Multidisciplinary management of head and neck cancer (HNC) must reconcile increasingly sophisticated subspecialty care with timeliness of care. Prior studies examined the individual effects of delays in diagnosis-to-treatment interval, postoperative interval, and radiation interval but did not consider them collectively. The objective of the current study was to investigate the combined impact of these interwoven intervals on patients with HNC. METHODS: Patients with HNC who underwent curative-intent surgery with radiation were identified in the National Cancer Database between 2004 and 2013. Multivariable models were constructed using restricted cubic splines to determine nonlinear relations with overall survival. RESULTS: Overall, 15,064 patients were evaluated. After adjustment for covariates, only prolonged postoperative interval (P < .001) and radiation interval (P < .001) independently predicted for worse outcomes, whereas the association of diagnosis-to-treatment interval with survival disappeared. By using multivariable restricted cubic spline functions, increasing postoperative interval did not affect mortality until 40 days after surgery, and each day of delay beyond this increased the risk of mortality until 70 days after surgery (hazard ratio, 1.14; 95% confidence interval, 1.01-1.28; P = .029). For radiation interval, mortality escalated continuously with each additional day of delay, plateauing at 55 days (hazard ratio, 1.25; 95% confidence interval, 1.11-1.41; P < .001). Delays beyond these change points were not associated with further survival decrements. CONCLUSIONS: Increasing delays in postoperative and radiation intervals are associated independently with an escalating risk of mortality that plateaus beyond certain thresholds. Delays in initiating therapy, conversely, are eclipsed in importance when appraised in conjunction with the entire treatment course. Such findings may redirect focus to streamlining those intervals that are most sensitive to delays when considering survival burden. Cancer 2018. © 2018 American Cancer Society.

The survival impact of surgical therapy in squamous cell carcinoma of the hard palate.

OBJECTIVE: To describe the incidence and determinants of survival of patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the hard palate (SCCHP) between the years of 1973 to 2014 using the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database. METHODS: Retrospective, population-based cohort study of patients in the SEER tumor registry who were diagnosed with SCCHP from 1973 to 2014. Outcomes and measures included overall survival (OS) and disease-specific survival (DSS). RESULTS: A total of 1,489 cases of primary SCCHP were identified. Of those, 53.2% were females and 47.8% presented with stage IV disease. The mean age at diagnosis was 69.8 years. Overall survival at 2, 5, and 10 years was 44%, 33%, and 21%, respectively. A total of 66.2% of patients underwent surgery (with or without radiation therapy [RT]); 20.1% received RT; and 22.4% had both surgical and RT. On multivariate analysis, RT, advanced age, stage, and grade were associated with worse OS and DSS (P < 0.05). Surgical therapy (with or without radiation) was an independent favorable predictor of OS and DSS (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: SCCHP is relatively infrequent tumor that portends an overall poor prognosis when advanced stage and a greater prognosis when early stage. Surgical therapy was found to be an independent predictor for improved OS and DSS, whereas RT was associated with reduced OS and DSS. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: 4. Laryngoscope, 128:2050-2055, 2018.

More than just tissue diagnosis in a patient with maxillofacial bony lesions and hypercalcemia.

Brown tumors are a definitive feature of hyperparathyroidism. They are well-demarcated osteolytic lesions commonly in the appendicular skeleton. Primary hyperparathyroidism is typically suggested by hypercalcemia and hypophosphatemia on routine labs. Much more rarely do these cases present with a craniofacial mass. Here we investigate a unique presentation of terminal stage primary hyperparathyroidism with a growing maxillary mass emphasizing the importance of a broad differential diagnosis and key diagnostic studies. Hyperparathyroidism can present in very unique ways. As otolaryngologists in the frontline, we must think beyond just tissue diagnoses so that appropriate and expedited care may be implemented. Laryngoscope, 127:1318-1321, 2017.