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Surgery alone for transorally resected human papillomavirus–driven head and neck cancer—can we de‐intensify adjuvant therapy to 0 Gy and 0 mg/m 2 ?
Author(s) -
Weiss Jared M.
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
cancer
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.052
H-Index - 304
eISSN - 1097-0142
pISSN - 0008-543X
DOI - 10.1002/cncr.33610
Subject(s) - medicine , head and neck cancer , head and neck , human papillomavirus , adjuvant therapy , adjuvant , cancer , surgery , radiation therapy , oncology
Lay Summary Although smoking has traditionally been the dominant causative factor of head and neck cancer, cancers of the tonsils and base of tongue increasingly are being driven by human papillomavirus, and these cancers are easier to cure. When radiation is used as the primary curative treatment, a number of studies have shown good outcomes with reduced doses of both radiation and chemotherapy. New techniques that access the tumor through the mouth instead of the jaw have made surgery dramatically less toxic. Outcomes are favorable, and many patients traditionally given radiation and chemotherapy afterward may be able to safely omit them.