But caution should always be the watchword when data suggest a change in proven treatment, Dr. Hayes warned.
"As recently as a couple years ago, back-to-back publications supported induction chemotherapy plus chemo and radiation for head and neck cancer. A lot of this focus has now disappeared in the face of this HPV story. Three years ago, we were going for more and more aggressive therapy, and now we are talking about de-escalating therapy for these patients. I want to sound a warning: Two years ago we thought we understood this disease and [we increased treatment], and now we think we understand once more and want to decrease instead of increase treatment. We need a measured approach. It’s likely some patients may need more treatment, some need less, and some need different treatment. In the individual patients, we should consider all the data, but as a matter of policy, the data are not here yet."
Dr. Cohen and Dr. Hayes said they had no relevant financial disclosures.