management of oropharyngeal squamous carcinoma

Last edited 12/2018

Squamous carcinomas of oropharynx

T1-2 N0 tumours of the oropharynx.

• the choice of transoral surgical resection or primary radiotherapy should be offered
• postoperative radiotherapy, with or without concomitant chemotherapy, should be considered if pathologically adverse risk factors have been identified.

Human pavillomavirus-related disease

• if squamous cell carcinomas of the oropharynx then test using p16 immunohistochemistry
  • p16 test result should be considered as positive only if there is strong nuclear and cytoplasmic staining in more than 70% of tumour cells
  • high-risk HPV DNA or RNA in-situ hybridisation should be considered in all p16-positive cancers of the oropharynx to confirm HPV status.

Reference:

• NICE (June 2018). Cancer of the upper aerodigestive tract: assessment and management in people aged 16 and over