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Over the last decades, the incidence of human papilloma virus (HPV) positive head and neck squamous-cell carcinoma (HNSCC) has significantly increased. Infection with high-risk HPV types drives tumourigenesis through expression of the oncoproteins E6 and E7. Currently, the primary treatment of HNSCC consists of radiotherapy, often combined with platinum-based chemotherapeutics. One of the common features of HNSCC is the occurrence of tumour hypoxia, which impairs the efficacy of radiotherapy and is a negative prognostic factor. Therefore, it is important to detect and quantify the severity of hypoxia, as well as develop strategies to specifically target hypoxic tumours. HPV-positive tumours are remarkably radiosensitive compared to HPV-negative tumours and consequently the HPV-positive patients have a better prognosis. This provides an opportunity to elucidate mechanisms of radiation sensitivity, which may reveal targets for improved therapy for HPV-negative head and neck cancers. In this review, we will discuss the differences between HPV-positive and HPV-negative head and neck tumours and methods of hypoxia detection and targeting in these disease types. Particular emphasis will be placed on the mechanisms by which HPV infection impacts radiosensitivity.

Original publication

DOI

10.1259/bjr.20180047

Type

Journal article

Journal

Br J Radiol

Publication Date

01/2019

Volume

92

Keywords

Chemoradiotherapy, Dose-Response Relationship, Radiation, Female, Head and Neck Neoplasms, Humans, Male, Papillomavirus Infections, Prognosis, Radiation Tolerance, Radiotherapy, Radiotherapy Dosage, Risk Assessment, Squamous Cell Carcinoma of Head and Neck, Survival Analysis, Treatment Outcome, Tumor Hypoxia