AB082. 56. Time to recurrence and surveillance period for human papilloma virus positive oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma

Background: Little consensus exists regarding optimal surveillance periods for head and neck cancer patients. Human papilloma virus (HPV) positive oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma has been found to have lower recurrence rates and better prognosis than its HPV negative counterpart. Recent evidence suggests that the majority of recurrences occur within 6 months of treatment and therefore, a shorter surveillance period may be feasible. Our aim was to determine the time to disease recurrence in our cohort of patients with HPV positive oropharyngeal squamous cell (SCC).

Methods: This was a single-centre retrospective review of patients with HPV positive oropharyngeal SCC treated at a tertiary referral Head & Neck Oncology Centre.

Results: Of the 116 included patients, 89 (76.7%) were male and 27 (22.3%) female. Mean age was 57.67±10.65 years. Twenty patients (17.24%) had disease recurrence over a mean follow-up of 26.9 months, 10 had locoregional disease and 10 distant metastases. Mean time to recurrence was 16.1 months (range, 3–53 months). Only 4 occurred within the first 6 months of follow up, 10 occurred between 6 months and 1 year, and 6 more than 1 year following treatment. While the overall survival rate was 85.34%, this dropped to 60% in those with locoregional recurrence and 20% in those with metastatic disease.

Conclusions: The majority of recurrences occurred between 6 months and 1 year following treatment. However, a substantial portion of patients recurred over a year after treatment. We would recommend that patients with HPV positive oropharyngeal SCC should have ongoing surveillance similar to those with HPV negative disease.

Keywords: Human papilloma virus; oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma; recurrence; surveillance