Hypoxia-Directed Treatment of Human Papillomavirus–Related Oropharyngeal Carcinoma
March 1, 2024
Interesting study where HPV+ head/neck cancer patients were assessed with a unique PET/CT with F-fluoromisonidazole, which assesses hypoxia in tissue. If, after two weeks of chemoradiation, the tumor became hypoxic, the patients were allowed to have chemotherapy alone while nonresponders went on to complete chemoradiation. At two years of follow-up, both arms were equivalent. There is more and more interest in how to safely de-escalate HPV+ head/neck cancer patients, but still, none have shown this can be done without compromising outcomes; this may be worth following to see if this works out.
