The incidence of oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma (OPSCC) has rapidly increased in high-income countries – such as US, Canada and Europe - over the past decades. Traditionally, alcohol consumption and tobacco smoking have been considered as the main risk factors, but Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) infection is now recognized as the primary biological driver of a specific OPSCC subset that accounts for up to 71% of all diagnosed cases (Lechner et al., 2022). HPV-positive (HPV+) OPSCC is considered as a distinct clinical entity in the 8th American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC staging system) due to its specific epidemiological and molecular profile. Importantly, HPV+ OPSCC demonstrated a more favourable prognosis in terms of overall survival and locoregional control compared to its HPV-negative counterpart (Amin et al., 2017a, Amin et al., 2017b). Therefore, in the current clinical practice, it is crucial to determine HPV status, using the p16 immunohistochemistry as a surrogate marker or HPV-DNA polymerase chain reaction (PCR) (Machczyński et al., 2020). HPV+ OPSCC is frequently diagnosed in a younger and healthier population at earlier stages, albeit with higher nodal involvement. It is highly sensitive to radiation and systemic agents, and presents an increased potential of primary prevention through the diffusion of vaccination strategies (Kobayashi et al., 2018). All these characteristics support personalized strategies for HPV+ OPSCC primary and secondary prevention, diagnosis and treatment.

The management of HPV+ OPSCC requires a comprehensive approach involving radiation therapy (RT), chemotherapy (CHT) and surgery. The associated relevant long-term side effects in survivors have prompted a shift toward treatment de-escalation, i.e. use of less-intensive therapies in selected good-prognosis patients to minimize the chronic adverse effects while ensuring sufficient oncologic control (Rosenberg and Vokes, 2021).

It is important to underline that therapeutic strategies in OPSCC are diverse, and each has undergone innovations and changes over time. The preference for one therapy over another has also been influenced by data from other head and neck settings and the prevailing treatments in different periods (such as surgery, organ preservation with induction, CHT-RT, and minimally invasive surgery). A good method to capture this complexity and gain an overall perspective on the topic is through bibliometrics, which represents an emerging tool to map the available literature on a specific scientific topic (Donthu et al., 2021). Our study sought to utilize bibliometric analysis to assess the level of interest, collaboration patterns, and emerging trends in HPV+ OPSCC. Through this approach, we aimed to delve into the vast literature and gain a better understanding of the evolving research and knowledge in this field.