Treatment trends for advanced oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma in the era of human papillomavirus

Background Given recent increase in prevalence of oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma (OPSCC) and advances in surgical capabilities, we sought to determine whether a change in frequency of surgery-based treatment for locally advanced OPSCC has occurred. Methods Patients with T3-T4b OPSCC in the National Cancer Database diagnosed from 2010 to 2016 were categorized as receiving primary surgery or radiation-based therapy and stratified by human papillomavirus (HPV) status. Trends in treatment selection and factors associated with treatment type were examined. Results 6566 patients with HPV-positive were included, of whom 489 (7.45%) received surgery and 4698 patients with HPV-negative, of whom 362 (7.71%) received surgery. The percentage of patients treated with surgery decreased from 11.8% to 5.9% for HPV-positive disease and from 9.8% to 6.3% for HPV-negative disease. Factors associated with surgery included younger age, health insurance, and treatment at academic centers. Conclusions In HPV-positive and HPV-negative disease, the percentage of locally advanced OPSCC undergoing surgery-based therapy has decreased.