Association between hepatitis C virus and oropharyngeal cancer.  

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is associated with hepatocellular carcinoma and non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. In 2009, MD Anderson were the first to report unexpectedly large number of patients with oropharyngeal cancers. The prevalence of HCV seropositivity in oropharyngeal cancer patients is 14.0%. In a recently study of survival in patients with oropharyngeal cancer, the researchers reviewed the records of patients who were tested for HCV at MD Anderson from 2004 to 2015. The 5-year overall and progression-free survival rates were significantly higher for HCV-negative patients than for HCV-positive patients. Their findings could change standard practices for HCV screening and treatment in patients with cancers of any type.