Impact of Human Papillomavirus Status on Hypercoagulable Events in Oropharyngeal Squamous Cell Carcinoma

Objective: To determine whether HPV status impacts the incidence of hypercoagulable events in patients with OSCC.Methods: Medical records for n=143 patients with a clinical diagnosis of OSCC and documented HPV status were abstracted from a head and neck cancer data base at Cooper University Hospital in Camden, NJ. Data regarding demographics, malignancy staging and treatment, clinical variables, and hypercoagulable events were recorded from the database and electronic medical record. Primary outcomes included the occurrence of deep vein thrombosis (DVT), pulmonary embolism (PE), stroke, and/or transient ischemic attack (TIA) either before, during, or after treatment of OSCC. Logistic regression modeling and fisher exact testing were utilized to compare rates of hypercoagulable events in HPV positive and HPV negative OSCC patients.Results: Logistic regression modeling revealed odds ratios (OR) with no statistically significant relationship between HPV positive status and rates of DVT [OR: 0.9804, 95% CI (0.225, 4.278)], PE [OR: 0.584, 95% CI (0.36, 9.40)], stroke [OR: 0.363, 95% CI (0.123, 1.020)], and TIA [OR: 0.278, 95% CI (0.049, 1.575)]. Fisher exact testing revealed similar results for DVT (P=1.0), PE (P=1.0), stroke (P=0.062), and TIA (P=0.195).Conclusion: Overall, no significant differences were identified in the rates of hypercoagulable events in HPV positive compared to HPV negative cohorts, suggesting the virus has no impact on thrombosis risk in OSCC patients.