Earlier diagnosis of head and neck cancer should lead to improved outcomes. However, because head and neck cancer is relatively rare, screening of the general population is impractical. Results from the current study provide a rationale for offering head and neck cancer screening along with low-dose computed tomography screening for lung cancer.

Background: Recent genomic evidence suggests frequent phosphatidylinositide 3-kinase (PI3K) pathway activation in human papillomavirus (HPV) positive oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma. Mutations/amplification of the gene encoding p110α catalytic subuni