Freitag J, Wald T, Kuhnt T, et al. - In patients with p16-positive oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma (OPSCC), researchers evaluated the prognostic impact of positive extracapsular/extranodal extension (ECE) status and the detection of HPV16 DNA. In a cohort of 92 individuals with p16-positive, lymph node (N)-positive (stage III-IVB) OPSCC who had surgery and neck dissection, allowing for a pathologic examination of positive lymph nodes, 66 of 92 individuals were p16-positive/HPV16 DNA-positive, 62 of 92 were ECE-positive, and 45 of 62 were ECE-positive, p16-positive, and HPV16 DNA-positive. Data reported that the mean numbers of positive lymph nodes in ECE-positive patients and ECE-negative patients were different. According to a univariate CoxR, the presence of ECE anticipated impaired OS in individuals with p16-positive OPSCC and even greater impaired OS in those with p16-positive/HPV16 DNA-positive OPSCC. Multivariate CoxR verified the identification of ECE and HPV16 DNA as independent predictors.