Xiao R, Pham Y, Ward MC, et al. - In this retrospective cohort study involving 484 people (94 were active smokers, 226 were former smokers, and 164 never smoked), researchers examined the role of smoking in patients with human papillomavirus (HPV)-positive oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma (OPSCC). Participants in the study were patients with HPV(+) OPSCC from 2001 to 2015 at a tertiary-care institution. Data reported that 82 patients had a ≥ 10 pack-year and 69 had a ≥ 20 pack-year smoking history among active smokers. Active smoking was a significant predictor of inferior OS and PFS after adjusting for covariates. It was noted that ≥ 20 pack-years anticipated a reduced effect-size for inferior OS and PFS when including pack-years as the covariate. It was concluded that active smoking at diagnosis is the most robust covariate capturing smoking history to anticipate OS and PFS for individuals with HPV(+) OPSCC.