Oropharyngeal Carcinoma: Better Outlook From Human Papilloma Virus-Directed Therapies— Different Patient Characteristics, New Therapeutic Opportunities

11th Annual Palm Beach Cancer Symposium (April 3-4, 2009 Hollywood, Florida)—Peter Goodwin interviews Marshall Posner MD from the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston about the increased prevalence of oropharygeal cancers which are related to HPV infection. These tumors may be less aggressive than cancers testing negative for HPV, and have proved more responsive to the most effective modern therapies which use docetaxel along with cisplatin and fluorouracil for induction prior to standard chemo-radiotherapy. He discusses the need for biological agents and drugs directed against the human papilloma virus which is essential for maintaining malignant phenotype and the urgency of vaccinating 12 to 24 year olds to reduce the pool of infection.