Detection of circulating tumor HPV-DNA in patients with HPV-positive sinonasal and nasopharyngeal carcinoma.
- 1Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery and Audiology, Copenhagen University Hospital - Rigshospitalet, Denmark.
- 2Department of Pathology, Copenhagen University Hospital - Rigshospitalet, Denmark.
- 3MDxCORE, Department of Clinical Biochemistry, Copenhagen University Hospital - Rigshospitalet, Denmark; Department of Clinical Medicine, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen.
Abstract
Background
Approximately 30% of sinonasal and nasopharyngeal carcinoma cases are HPV-associated, yet studies investigating circulating tumor HPV-DNA (ctHPV-DNA) among these patients are scarce. The aim of this study was to investigate the sensitivity of ctHPV-DNA in pretreatment blood samples from patients with HPV-positive (HPV+) sinonasal and nasopharyngeal carcinoma.Methods
Patients with a confirmed HPV+ sinonasal or nasopharyngeal carcinoma treated at the Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery and Audiology at Rigshospitalet, Copenhagen, Denmark in the period 2017-2025 were included in this study. Blood samples were drawn in Streck tubes before treatment initiation and analysed for the presence of ctHPV-DNA by Droplet digital PCR (ddPCR).Results
Fifteen patients with primary HPV+ sinonasal or nasopharyngeal carcinoma were included. Except for two cases of HPV-related multiphenotypic carcinoma, all cases were squamous cell carcinoma. HPV16 was most prevalent and found in 6 patients (40%). HPV18 (n = 2), HPV33 (n = 1), HPV35 (n = 3), HPV45 (n = 1), and HPV56 (n = 2) were also represented. The sensitivity of detecting ctHPV-DNA in the pretreatment blood samples of the included patients was 80%. The level of ctHPV-DNA increased significantly with increasing T-category.Conclusion
ctHPV-DNA was detected in pretreatment blood samples in 80% of patients with HPV+ sinonasal and nasopharyngeal carcinoma. This supports further investigation of ctHPV-DNA as a biomarker for post-treatment surveillance in these patients.
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BibTeX
@article{jensen2026detection,
title = {{Detection of circulating tumor HPV-DNA in patients with HPV-positive sinonasal and nasopharyngeal carcinoma.}},
author = {Jakob Myllerup Jensen and Simone Kloch Bendtsen and Kathrine Kronberg Jakobsen and Katalin Kiss and Maria Rossing and Christian Grønhøj and Christian Von Buchwald},
journal = {Acta oncologica (Stockholm, Sweden)},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.2340/1651-226x.2026.46393},
url = {https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42898009},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Detection of circulating tumor HPV-DNA in patients with HPV-positive sinonasal and nasopharyngeal carcinoma.
AU - Jakob Myllerup Jensen
AU - Simone Kloch Bendtsen
AU - Kathrine Kronberg Jakobsen
AU - Katalin Kiss
AU - Maria Rossing
AU - Christian Grønhøj
AU - Christian Von Buchwald
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/20
JO - Acta oncologica (Stockholm, Sweden)
DO - 10.2340/1651-226x.2026.46393
UR - https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42898009
AB - Background Approximately 30% of sinonasal and nasopharyngeal carcinoma cases are HPV-associated, yet studies investigating circulating tumor HPV-DNA (ctHPV-DNA) among these patients are scarce. The aim of this study was to investigate the sensitivity of ctHPV-DNA in pretreatment blood samples from patients with HPV-positive (HPV+) sinonasal and nasopharyngeal carcinoma.Methods Patients with a confirmed HPV+ sinonasal or nasopharyngeal carcinoma treated at the Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery and Audiology at Rigshospitalet, Copenhagen, Denmark in the period 2017-2025 were included in this study. Blood samples were drawn in Streck tubes before treatment initiation and analysed for the presence of ctHPV-DNA by Droplet digital PCR (ddPCR).Results Fifteen patients with primary HPV+ sinonasal or nasopharyngeal carcinoma were included. Except for two cases of HPV-related multiphenotypic carcinoma, all cases were squamous cell carcinoma. HPV16 was most prevalent and found in 6 patients (40%). HPV18 (n = 2), HPV33 (n = 1), HPV35 (n = 3), HPV45 (n = 1), and HPV56 (n = 2) were also represented. The sensitivity of detecting ctHPV-DNA in the pretreatment blood samples of the included patients was 80%. The level of ctHPV-DNA increased significantly with increasing T-category.Conclusion ctHPV-DNA was detected in pretreatment blood samples in 80% of patients with HPV+ sinonasal and nasopharyngeal carcinoma. This supports further investigation of ctHPV-DNA as a biomarker for post-treatment surveillance in these patients.
SN - 0284-186X
SN - 1651-226X
ER -