Squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck outside the oropharynx is rarely human papillomavirus related.

OBJECTIVES/HYPOTHESIS: The incidence of human papillomavirus (HPV)-driven disease beyond the oropharynx varies greatly in the reported literature.

STUDY

DESIGN

Case series.

METHODS

Two hundred twenty-one samples were strictly classified to the subsites of oral cavity, larynx, or hypopharynx at the time of primary surgery. Formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded samples were subjected to a validated, tiered, diagnostic algorithm of p16 immunohistochemistry, high-risk HPV in situ hybridization, and quantitative polymerase chain reaction for HPV E6 DNA. An additional 60 oropharyngeal cases acted as an internal biological control.

RESULTS

An incidence of 4% of HPV-driven cases was observed across the subsites outside the oropharynx compared to 70% of tumors confined within it.

CONCLUSIONS

This is the first reporting of a broad range of nonoropharyngeal HPV rates using this validated diagnostic algorithm. It remains unclear whether patients with HPV-driven disease originating outside the oropharynx enjoy the same survival advantage apparent in those patients with oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinomas.

LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: 4 Laryngoscope, 124:2739-2744, 2014.