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Reply to ‘HPV-associated oropharyngeal cancer — discussion points’

Nature Reviews Clinical Oncology volume 19, pages 422–423 (2022)Cite this article

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We thank P. Goon and H. Sudhoff for their erudite feedback on our Review (Lechner, M. et al. HPV-associated oropharyngeal cancer: epidemiology, molecular biology and clinical management. Nat. Rev. Clin. Oncol., https://doi.org/10.1038/s41571-022-00603-7; 2022)1, which raises some interesting points of discussion (Goon, P. & Sudhoff, H. HPV-associated oropharyngeal cancer — discussion points. Nat. Rev. Clin. Oncol., https://doi.org/10.1038/s41571-022-00626-0; 2022)2.

Regarding the first point (the existence of a defined premalignant phase in HPV-associated oropharyngeal carcinoma), we do not disagree with this assertion. The legend of figure 2 of our Review1 refers to the much larger body of evidence describing a premalignant phase in cervical cancer, as opposed to the smaller research base for oropharyngeal cancer. We agree that identifying premalignant cells and carcinoma in situ located in the vicinity of diagnosed HPV+ oropharyngeal cancers is possible, as demonstrated in various publications (including our previous publication with P. Goon and H. Sudhoff3); crucially, however, no screening technology or method that enables the routine detection of such lesions in this context is currently available. This lack of a reliable and broadly applicable screening method remains one of the most pressing unmet clinical needs in this field.

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References

  1. Lechner, M., Liu, J., Masterson, L. & Fenton, T. R. HPV-associated oropharyngeal cancer: epidemiology, molecular biology and clinical management. Nat. Rev. Clin. Oncol. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41571-022-00603-7 (2022).

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  2. Goon, P. & Sudhoff, H. HPV-associated oropharyngeal cancer — discussion points. Nat. Rev. Clin. Oncol. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41571-022-00626-0 (2022).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. UCL Cancer Institute, University College London, London, UK

    Matt Lechner & Jacklyn Liu

  2. UCL Head & Neck Academic Centre, Division of Surgery and Interventional Science, University College London, London, UK

    Matt Lechner

  3. Department of ENT, Barts Health NHS Trust, London, UK

    Matt Lechner

  4. Department of ENT, Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Trust, Cambridge, UK

    Liam Masterson

  5. School of Biosciences, University of Kent, Canterbury, UK

    Tim R. Fenton

  6. School of Cancer Sciences, Faculty of Medicine and Institute for Life Sciences, University of Southampton, Southampton, UK

    Tim R. Fenton

Authors
  1. Matt Lechner
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  2. Jacklyn Liu
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  3. Liam Masterson
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  4. Tim R. Fenton
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Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Matt Lechner or Tim R. Fenton.

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The authors declare no competing interests.

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Lechner, M., Liu, J., Masterson, L. et al. Reply to ‘HPV-associated oropharyngeal cancer — discussion points’. Nat Rev Clin Oncol 19, 422–423 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41571-022-00627-z

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