Differences in imaging characteristics of HPV-positive and HPV-Negative oropharyngeal cancers: a blinded matched-pair analysis.
Journal Article
BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Human papillomavirus-positive oropharyngeal cancers typically have younger age of onset, limited tobacco exposure, and more favorable prognosis than HPV-negative oropharyngeal cancers. We assessed whether HPV-positive and HPV-negative oropharyngeal cancers have consistent differences in pretreatment imaging characteristics. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A retrospective review of 136 pretreatment CT examinations of paired HPV-positive and HPV-negative oropharyngeal cancers matched for T stage, tumor subsite, and smoking status was performed with the reviewing radiologist blinded to HPV status and clinical stage. Demographic/clinical characteristics and imaging characteristics of primary lesions and metastatic nodal disease were compared by use of Fisher exact testing. The McNemar χ(2) test was used for the matched-pair analysis. RESULTS: By imaging, HPV-negative tumors were more likely to demonstrate invasion of adjacent muscle (26% versus 6%, P = .013). HPV-positive primary tumors were more likely to be enhancing and exophytic with well-defined borders, whereas HPV-negative primary tumors were more likely to be isoattenuated and demonstrate ill-defined borders, though these results were not statistically significant. HPV-positive tumors were more likely to demonstrate cystic nodal metastases than HPV-negative tumors (36% versus 9%, P = .002). CONCLUSIONS: In this matched and blinded analysis of the imaging differences between HPV-positive and HPV-negative oropharyngeal cancers, HPV-positive carcinomas often had primary lesions with well-defined borders and cystic nodal metastases, whereas HPV-negative primaries more often had poorly defined borders and invasion of adjacent muscle.
Full Text
Duke Authors
Cited Authors
- Cantrell, SC; Peck, BW; Li, G; Wei, Q; Sturgis, EM; Ginsberg, LE
Published Date
- October 2013
Published In
Volume / Issue
- 34 / 10
Start / End Page
- 2005 - 2009
PubMed ID
- 23660291
Pubmed Central ID
- 23660291
Electronic International Standard Serial Number (EISSN)
- 1936-959X
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
- 10.3174/ajnr.A3524
Language
- eng
Conference Location
- United States