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Background: The incidence of oropharyngeal cancer (OPC) due to tobacco and alcohol, respectively, has been declining, while that linked to human papilloma virus (HPV) has been rising. Epidemiologic, biologic, and prognostic characteristics of OPC differ by HPV-status. This study compared overall survival (OS) among HPV-positive and -negative patients with OPC in a real-world setting. Methods: This retrospective observational study used electronic medical records data from the Geisinger Health System to select patients diagnosed with OPC between January 1, 2010 and September 30, 2015. Patients were designated as HPV-positive if the HPV or P16 test closest to the diagnosis date was positive. All other patients were deemed HPV-negative. Descriptive statistics and relevant statistical tests were used to compare baseline characteristics by HPV status; survival by HPV status was examined using Kaplan–Meier methods and multivariable Cox models. Results: In this study, 152 patients met all selection criteria; 110 (72.4%) were HPV-positive. HPV-positive patients were more likely to be men (89.1% vs 73.8%; P=.019) and to have lymph node involvement (88.2% vs 59.5%; P=.0008); they were less likely to have cerebrovascular disease (6.9% vs. 23.5%; P=.01), or distant metastases (1.8% vs 9.5%; P=.029) vs HPV-negative patients. Among HPV-positive patients, 75.5%, 12.7%, and 10.9% had squamous cell carcinoma NOS, basaloid squamous cell carcinoma, and squamous cell carcinoma large cell non-keratinizing, respectively; corresponding values for HPV-negative patients were 85.7%, 0.0%, and 2.4%, respectively (P=.0013). HPV-positive patients were nominally younger than HPV-negative patients (median: 58 vs 61 years; P=.085). Log-rank test showed OS of HPV-positive patients (median OS from treatment initiation: not reached) is higher than of HPV-negative patients (median OS: 3.7 years; P=.002). In multivariable analyses, HPV-negative status was associated with increased mortality risk (P=.0035); other significant risk factors included alcohol use, diabetes, and distant metastases. Conclusions: HPV-positive status was associated with a decreased risk of mortality among OPC patients in this study. Despite the small sample size and potential violation of assumption of proportional hazard rate, this study underscores the prognostic implication of HPV status in OPC, which may have important ramifications in optimizing treatment decisions among this patient population.

Background: PTL is a prognostic factor for mCRC. Recent data suggest PTL is also predictive of survival benefit with cetuximab (CET) and bevacizumab (BEV). This study evaluated the prognostic and predictive effect of PTL in patients with KRAS WT mCRC who initiated first-line (1L) therapy with CET vs BEV in the real world. Methods: This retrospective study selected patients with KRAS WT mCRC who initiated 1L therapy with CET or BEV + FOLFIRI or FOLFOX between January 2013 and April 2017 from Flatiron Health’s electronic health record-derived database. PTL was abstracted from patients’ charts. Left-sided PTL (LPTL): splenic flexure to rectum; right-sided PTL (RPTL): cecum to splenic flexure. Propensity score matching was used to balance treatment cohorts on baseline characteristics. Kaplan Meier and Cox regression methods were used for survival analyses. Results: 1,312 patients met the selection criteria. Of 248 CET + FOLFIRI or FOLFOX patients, 164 had LPTL and 84 had RPTL; of 1,064 BEV + FOLFIRI or FOLFOX patients, 679 had LPTL and 385 had RPTL. CET LPTL and RPTL patients were more likely to receive FOLFIRI vs BEV patients (LPTL: 64.0% vs 24.3%; P<.001; RPTL: 76.2% vs 24.9%; P<.001). Stage at initial diagnosis was different between CET RPTL vs BEV RPTL patients (P<.001). CET RPTL patients were more likely to be stage III (44.0% vs 22.6%) while BEV RPTL patients were more likely to be stage IV (48.8% vs 65.7%) at initial diagnosis. CET RPTL patients were more likely to have a history of adjuvant chemotherapy vs BEV RPTL patients (47.6% vs 22.3%; P<.001). In the matched sample, median overall survival (OS) was 29.7 months (95% CI, 26.9–35.2) for LPTL patients vs 18.3 months (95% CI, 15.8–21.3) for RPTL patients (P<.001). Median OS was 29.7 months (95% CI, 27.4–NA) for CET LPTL vs 29.1 months (95% CI, 26.6–35.6) for BEV LPTL patients (HR, 0.87; 95% CI, 0.63–1.19; P=.378), and 17.0 months (95% CI, 12.0–32.6) for CET RPTL vs 18.8 months (95% CI, 15.8–22.3) for BEV RPTL patients (HR, 1.00; 95% CI, 0.68–1.46; P=.996). The interaction of treatment and PTL was not significant in the Cox regression. Conclusions: This study found a prognostic effect of PTL but not a predictive effect. LPTL patients had significantly longer OS vs RPTL patients. However, the treatment effect for CET vs BEV by PTL was not significantly different. Future research is needed to examine differences between real-world and clinical trial populations that may have contributed to divergent results.