Human papillomavirus (HPV) causes an estimated 70 percent of head and neck cancers in the U.S., making it the most common cancer caused by the virus. Yet unlike cervical cancers caused by HPV, there is no screening test for HPV-associated head and neck cancers.
In a new federally funded study, Harvard-affiliated Mass General Brigham researchers show that a novel liquid biopsy tool they developed, called HPV-DeepSeek, can identify HPV-associated head and neck cancer up to 10 years before symptoms appear. By catching cancers earlier with this novel test, patients may experience higher treatment success and require a less intense regimen, according to the authors.
HPV-DeepSeek uses whole-genome sequencing to detect microscopic fragments of HPV DNA that have broken off from a tumor and entered the bloodstream. Previous research from this team showed the test could achieve 99 percent specificity and 99 percent sensitivity for diagnosing cancer at the first time of presentation to a clinic, outperforming current testing methods.
HPV-DeepSeek detected HPV tumor DNA in 22 out of 28 blood samples from patients who later developed the cancer, whereas all 28 control samples tested negative, indicating that the test is highly specific. The test was better able to detect HPV DNA in blood samples that were collected closer to the time of the patients’ diagnosis, and the earliest positive result was for a blood sample collected 7.8 years prior to diagnosis.
Using machine learning, the researchers were able to improve the test’s power so that it accurately identified 27 out of 28 cancer cases, including samples collected up to 10 years prior to diagnosis.
In a new federally funded study, Harvard-affiliated Mass General Brigham researchers show that a novel liquid biopsy tool they developed, called HPV-DeepSeek, can identify HPV-associated head and neck cancer up to 10 years before symptoms appear. By catching cancers earlier with this novel test, patients may experience higher treatment success and require a less intense regimen, according to the authors.
HPV-DeepSeek uses whole-genome sequencing to detect microscopic fragments of HPV DNA that have broken off from a tumor and entered the bloodstream. Previous research from this team showed the test could achieve 99 percent specificity and 99 percent sensitivity for diagnosing cancer at the first time of presentation to a clinic, outperforming current testing methods.
HPV-DeepSeek detected HPV tumor DNA in 22 out of 28 blood samples from patients who later developed the cancer, whereas all 28 control samples tested negative, indicating that the test is highly specific. The test was better able to detect HPV DNA in blood samples that were collected closer to the time of the patients’ diagnosis, and the earliest positive result was for a blood sample collected 7.8 years prior to diagnosis.
Using machine learning, the researchers were able to improve the test’s power so that it accurately identified 27 out of 28 cancer cases, including samples collected up to 10 years prior to diagnosis.
