Incidence of Contralateral-Bilateral Nodes in the Human Papillomavirus Era

HPV‐positive oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma has a more favorable prognosis when compared to HPV‐negative disease, regardless of the presence of nodal metastases. However, the importance of contralateral neck treatment based on HPV status has not been well studied. Given the historically poor prognostic implications of cervical nodal metastases, this study sought to elucidate the relationship between HPV status and contralateral/bilateral nodal metastasis in patients with oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma.