Skip to main content
UNC Lineberger's Bhishamjit S. Chera, MD, and Gaorav Gupta, MD, PhD.

October 23, 2018

HPV blood test shows promise for tracking head and neck cancer after treatment

UNC Lineberger's Bhishamjit S. Chera, MD, will present preliminary findings at the 60th Annual Meeting of the American Society for Radiation Oncology on Tuesday from a study that evaluated a blood test for HPV-linked oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma, which is a cancer of the back of the throat. The findings demonstrated the test could be an effective and less costly alternative for monitoring for cancer recurrence after radiation treatment.

José P. Zevallos is an associate member of UNC Lineberger, an assistant professor and director of oncologic research in the UNC School of Medicine Department of Otolaryngology/Head and Neck Surgery.

February 18, 2016

Study finds different genetic mutation patterns for HPV-positive throat cancer patients based on smoking history

Researchers at UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center have presented preliminary findings from a study examining the genetic alterations in HPV-positive oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma, a cancer of the head and neck. The researchers found differences in the genetic mutations of HPV-positive oropharyngeal cancer based on whether patients were heavy versus light smokers.