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Does p16 status influence your decision when choosing between surgery and definitive chemo-RT for head and neck patients?

Is there data to support that surgery works better than chemo-RT in p16 negative patients?
2 Answers
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Radiation Oncology · Henry Ford Health System
Answered on

I am assuming that when you say "surgery" you are specifically referring to transoral robotic or transoral laser surgeries and not the traditional mandible- splitting surgeries for oropharyngeal cancers.

Currently p16 status does not make a difference in offering transoral surgery to patients. FDA ap...

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Mednet Member
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Radiation Oncology · Yale School of Medicine
Answered on

To follow-up on @Dr. First Last's final point regarding the absence of randomized data on "surgical intensification" for p16-negative oropharyngeal cancers, our recent NCDB analysis observed similar overall survival for cT1-2N1-2b p16-negative OPSCC patients receiving upfront surgical therapy (~60% ...

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