Dr. Mehanna on Goals of the Updated Staging System in HPV+ Head and Neck Cancer

Hisham Mehanna, PhD, BMedSc, MBChB, FRCS, chair, Head and Neck Surgery director, Institute of Head and Neck Studies and Education at the School of Cancer Studies, University of Birmingham, discusses goals of the updated staging system in HPV-positive head and neck cancer.

In 2018, several updates were made to the staging of head and neck cancer following the release of the eighth edition of the AJCC Cancer Staging Manual. There were several goals of these changes, explains Mehanna. These changes were made to more accurately reflect the prognosis of the disease, which according to Mehanna is better than other malignancies. Prior to the update, a diagnosis of stage IV disease did not reflect that.

Secondly, a better prognostication system allows physicians to isolate more specific subgroups in which to test new therapies. However, until those therapies are established, patients should remain on the same treatment, regardless of whether the new staging system reclassified the stage of their disease, states Mehanna.