Oncology Laboratory management Research and Innovations

ECP 2026: Is HPV-Specific Testing Optimized in Throat Cancer?

Cost and turnaround times are a potential challenge to standardization of testing and optimization of patient pathways

09/14/2026 Video 2 min read

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Clinical Scorecard: ECP 2026: Is HPV-Specific Testing Optimized in Throat Cancer?

At a Glance

Category	Detail
Condition	Oropharyngeal Squamous Cell Carcinoma
Key Mechanisms	HPV-associated and HPV-independent subtypes with differing clinical outcomes; P16 immunohistochemistry as a surrogate marker.
Target Population	Patients with oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma in the UK and Ireland.
Care Setting	Pathology laboratories in the UK and Ireland.

Key Highlights

100% of surveyed pathologists had access to P16 immunohistochemistry in-house.
91% had access to HPV-specific testing, primarily PCR, but only 25% in-house.
Median turnaround time for HPV-specific testing was 14 days compared to 2 days for P16 immunohistochemistry.
36% of respondents requested HPV-specific testing based on clinical suspicion.
Cost and turnaround times are significant barriers to standardization.

Guideline-Based Recommendations

Diagnosis

Use of P16 immunohistochemistry as a surrogate marker for HPV-associated oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma.

Management

Consider HPV-specific testing to improve diagnostic accuracy.

Monitoring & Follow-up

Monitor barriers to HPV-specific testing to standardize patient pathways.

Risks

Delays in diagnosis due to longer turnaround times for HPV-specific testing.

Patient & Prescribing Data

Patients diagnosed with oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma.

HPV-specific testing is beneficial for improving diagnostic accuracy.

Clinical Best Practices

Standardize access to HPV-specific testing across pathology laboratories.
Address cost and turnaround time barriers to improve patient pathways.

Related Resources & Content

ECP 2026 Presentation by Hannah Crane