Human papillomavirus in cervical cancer and oropharyngeal cancer: One cause, two diseases

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Abstract

Human papillomavirus (HPV) causes greater than 5% of cancers worldwide, including all cervical cancers and an alarmingly increasing proportion of oropharyngeal cancers (OPCs). Despite markedly reduced cervical cancer incidence in industrialized nations with organized screening programs, cervical cancer remains the second most common cause of death from cancer in women worldwide, as developing countries lack resources for universal, high‐quality screening. In the United States, HPV‐related OPC is only 1 of 5 cancers with a rising incidence since 1975 and now has taken over the cervix as the most common site of HPV‐related cancer. Similar trends follow throughout North America and Europe. The need for early detection and prevention is paramount. Despite the common etiologic role of HPV in the development of cervical cancer and HPV‐associated OPC, great disparity exists between incidence, screening modalities (or lack thereof), treatment, and prevention in these 2 very distinct cohorts. These differences in cervical cancer and HPV‐associated OPC and their impact are discussed here. Cancer 2017;123:2219–2229. © 2017 American Cancer Society.

Abstract

Despite the common etiologic role of human papillomavirus in the development of cervical cancer and human papillomavirus‐associated oropharyngeal cancer, great differences exist in the incidence, screening, treatment, and prevention of these 2 very distinct cohorts. Here, these differences and their impact are discussed.

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Nivolumab for Recurrent Squamous-Cell Carcinoma of the Head and Neck

Robert Ferris, George Blumenschein, Jérôme Fayette … (2016)

Background Patients with recurrent or metastatic squamous-cell carcinoma of the head and neck after platinum chemotherapy have a very poor prognosis and limited therapeutic options. Nivolumab, an anti-programmed death 1 (PD-1) monoclonal antibody, was assessed as treatment for this condition. Methods In this randomized, open-label, phase 3 trial, we assigned, in a 2:1 ratio, 361 patients with recurrent squamous-cell carcinoma of the head and neck whose disease had progressed within 6 months after platinum-based chemotherapy to receive nivolumab (at a dose of 3 mg per kilogram of body weight) every 2 weeks or standard, single-agent systemic therapy (methotrexate, docetaxel, or cetuximab). The primary end point was overall survival. Additional end points included progression-free survival, rate of objective response, safety, and patient-reported quality of life. Results The median overall survival was 7.5 months (95% confidence interval [CI], 5.5 to 9.1) in the nivolumab group versus 5.1 months (95% CI, 4.0 to 6.0) in the group that received standard therapy. Overall survival was significantly longer with nivolumab than with standard therapy (hazard ratio for death, 0.70; 97.73% CI, 0.51 to 0.96; P=0.01), and the estimates of the 1-year survival rate were approximately 19 percentage points higher with nivolumab than with standard therapy (36.0% vs. 16.6%). The median progression-free survival was 2.0 months (95% CI, 1.9 to 2.1) with nivolumab versus 2.3 months (95% CI, 1.9 to 3.1) with standard therapy (hazard ratio for disease progression or death, 0.89; 95% CI, 0.70 to 1.13; P=0.32). The rate of progression-free survival at 6 months was 19.7% with nivolumab versus 9.9% with standard therapy. The response rate was 13.3% in the nivolumab group versus 5.8% in the standard-therapy group. Treatment-related adverse events of grade 3 or 4 occurred in 13.1% of the patients in the nivolumab group versus 35.1% of those in the standard-therapy group. Physical, role, and social functioning was stable in the nivolumab group, whereas it was meaningfully worse in the standard-therapy group. Conclusions Among patients with platinum-refractory, recurrent squamous-cell carcinoma of the head and neck, treatment with nivolumab resulted in longer overall survival than treatment with standard, single-agent therapy. (Funded by Bristol-Myers Squibb; CheckMate 141 ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT02105636 .).

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Improved survival with bevacizumab in advanced cervical cancer.

Krishnansu Tewari, Michael Sill, Harry J Long … (2014)

Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) promotes angiogenesis, a mediator of disease progression in cervical cancer. Bevacizumab, a humanized anti-VEGF monoclonal antibody, has single-agent activity in previously treated, recurrent disease. Most patients in whom recurrent cervical cancer develops have previously received cisplatin with radiation therapy, which reduces the effectiveness of cisplatin at the time of recurrence. We evaluated the effectiveness of bevacizumab and nonplatinum combination chemotherapy in patients with recurrent, persistent, or metastatic cervical cancer. Using a 2-by-2 factorial design, we randomly assigned 452 patients to chemotherapy with or without bevacizumab at a dose of 15 mg per kilogram of body weight. Chemotherapy consisted of cisplatin at a dose of 50 mg per square meter of body-surface area, plus paclitaxel at a dose of 135 or 175 mg per square meter or topotecan at a dose of 0.75 mg per square meter on days 1 to 3, plus paclitaxel at a dose of 175 mg per square meter on day 1. Cycles were repeated every 21 days until disease progression, the development of unacceptable toxic effects, or a complete response was documented. The primary end point was overall survival; a reduction of 30% in the hazard ratio for death was considered clinically important. Groups were well balanced with respect to age, histologic findings, performance status, previous use or nonuse of a radiosensitizing platinum agent, and disease status. Topotecan-paclitaxel was not superior to cisplatin-paclitaxel (hazard ratio for death, 1.20). With the data for the two chemotherapy regimens combined, the addition of bevacizumab to chemotherapy was associated with increased overall survival (17.0 months vs. 13.3 months; hazard ratio for death, 0.71; 98% confidence interval, 0.54 to 0.95; P=0.004 in a one-sided test) and higher response rates (48% vs. 36%, P=0.008). Bevacizumab, as compared with chemotherapy alone, was associated with an increased incidence of hypertension of grade 2 or higher (25% vs. 2%), thromboembolic events of grade 3 or higher (8% vs. 1%), and gastrointestinal fistulas of grade 3 or higher (3% vs. 0%). The addition of bevacizumab to combination chemotherapy in patients with recurrent, persistent, or metastatic cervical cancer was associated with an improvement of 3.7 months in median overall survival. (Funded by the National Cancer Institute; GOG 240 ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT00803062.).