Every year, around 300 UK throat cancer patients undergo unnecessary surgery because the standard scan cannot reliably tell whether their tumour is truly gone. The problem is that current chemo-radiotherapy cures over 90% of HPV-positive oropharyngeal cancers, but the follow-up PET-CT scan is not accurate enough to rule out residual disease. As a result, surgeons operate on many patients who no longer have active cancer—and roughly a quarter of those surgeries cause severe complications, including chronic pain and shoulder dysfunction. These patients are young (average age 55) and face lifelong side effects. Researchers at the Institute of Cancer Research have developed a blood test called HPV-detect, which measures tumour DNA fragments shed into the bloodstream. In a pilot study, the test achieved over 90% sensitivity and specificity for detecting residual cancer. This multicentre study will validate the test in 143 HPV-positive patients and 48 negative controls, comparing its results to standard PET-CT scans and pathological findings. If successful, the test could spare hundreds of patients each year from unnecessary, harmful surgery. The project also includes a health-economic analysis to assess cost savings for the NHS and a study of barriers to clinical adoption.
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We are planning a multicentre biological sample collection study to validate circulating human papilloma virus (HPV) DNA as a marker of residual disease following potentially curative treatment in HPV positive oropharyngeal (throat) cancer. Human papilloma virus (or HPV) affects the skin and the mucosa. The mucosa is the moist membrane that lines the inside of certain body parts eg mouth and throat. HPV infection is very common and over 100 different types of HPV have been identified. Although HPV can increase the risk of developing some types of cancer, most people who have HPV won't develop cancer. Approximately 2000 patients are diagnosed with oropharyngeal (throat) cancer caused by HPV infection every year in the UK. The standard treatment for this type of cancer is up-front chemo-radiotherapy followed by surgical removal of any cancer left behind. The surgery is undertaken based on the results of a scan known as an 18F-FDG PET-CT. However, of the patients who undergo surgery, only 20% have viable residual cancer on microscopic pathological examination. Therefore these patients (300 every year) undergo unnecessary surgical procedures. Approximately 25% of patients proceeding to surgery have severe complications immediately after surgery and all of them suffer with significant permanent side effects such as pain, shoulder dysfunction with altered quality of life. Therefore a more reliable marker of presence of residual cancer after chemo-radiotherapy is required to guide management decisions and avoid unnecessary surgical procedures. Furthermore, patients who develop HPV related throat cancer are young (range 47-65 yrs. Average age 55) and due to the excellent treatment outcomes with the current treatments (>90% 5 year survival) are expected to carry the burden of treatment related toxicity for life. Oropharyngeal cancers caused by HPV release material from the tumour (containing the HPV DNA) in to the blood stream. Presence of HPV DNA in the blood stream can serve as a potential marker of the residual (remaining) cancer. We have developed an ultra-sensitive and specific assay 'HPV-detect', which is a non-invasive way to measure the HPV DNA levels after chemo-radiotherapy using a simple blood test to help guide management decisions and avoid any unnecessary surgical procedures. The HPV-detect test was developed and validated in a pilot study carried out by a team of researchers at the Institute of Cancer Research. The pilot study comprised test and blinded validation groups and demonstrated that the HPV-detect test had a sensitivity and specificity in excess of 90%. The research also showed that the plasma HPV DNA levels correlated with the pathological response (ie no active cancer cells present) as assessed following chemo-radiotherapy. The current proposal is designed to validate the relevance and usefulness of the test in patient care (clinical utility) in a large prospective multi-centre study, in order to establish its potential to predict the absence of residual disease. To prove specificity of at least 85% will require the recruitment of 143 HPV+ oropharyngeal cancer patients undergoing chemo-radiotherapy and 48 HPV negative patients as negative controls. Plasma HPV DNA levels will be measured using HPV-detect and at 12 weeks following treatment will be correlated with the 18F-FDG PET-CT results. Laboratory tests will be blinded to HPV status and clinical data. In parallel with the validation study in collaboration with the NHR-Diagnostic Evidence Cooperative at Imperial College London, we will study barriers to adoption of the test and how to address these. We will also undertake a detailed health economic analysis to study the cost benefits of implementing the test in the UK healthcare system.
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