Detecting the virus HPV to predict the presence of cancer

Full project title: Novel plasma Human Papillomavirus DNA assay as a predictor of residual disease after chemo-radiotherapy for locally advanced head and neck cancer

Tag: Predictive tests

Dr Jennifer Lee

Project type:
Project

Project Leader:
Dr Shree Bhide

Researcher:
Dr Jen Lee

Commencement date:
April 2018

Length of project:
1 year

Funding provided:
£39,000

Funder:
Oracle Cancer Trust

Location:
The Institute of Cancer Research

The problem The research The future

The problem

As well as alcohol and tobacco, the human papilloma virus (HPV) is a known risk factor in head and neck cancer. HPV-positive head and neck cancer has been rising over the past 30 years and is set to continue, with a predicted increase of 230% in coming years.

In patients with HPV-positive head and neck cancer, it is not always clear from scans (PET-CT) if treatment with chemo-radiotherapy has been totally successful in clearing the cancer. In these cases, patients frequently undergo unnecessary neck dissection and repeated biopsies to make sure there is no disease remaining, also called residual disease. This causes significant morbidity.

The research

In a recently completed pilot study, part supported by Oracle, researchers developed a novel blood test for detection of circulating HPV DNA- “HPV-detect”. This study has been published in the British Journal of Cancer (Br J Cancer, 2017. 117(6): p. 876-883).

This test has the potential to be used in patients to detect residual disease more accurately and conclusively then current procedures. The benefit of this would be a reduction in the number of patients undergoing unnecessary surgery, while making it easier to detect those patients who have relapsed.

Although the test has been developed, it needs to be analysed in a larger sample of patients before making a recommendation for its wider use in treatment. This research is the next step towards getting this test into clinical use.

The future

Once HPV-detect has been validated in a larger population, the next step will be to implement it into clinical practice.

Dr Shreerang Bhide, said:

“Among cases of head and neck cancer, patients with HPV-positive disease tend to be younger and have better survival rates.

“As a result, these patients need to live with the effects of their treatment for longer.

“This research shows that a blood test for HPV DNA can be used to identify how patients have responded to treatment, and therefore has the potential to spare them unnecessary surgery and significantly improve their quality of life.”

Not only could this blood based screening and monitoring tool be of benefit to head and neck cancer patients but could also be used to detect circulating HPV DNA in all HPV driven cancers.