M. Gormley, A. Adhikari, T. Dudding, M. Pring, K. Hurley, G. J. Macfarlane, P. Lagiou, A. Lagiou, J. Polesel, A. Agudo, L. Alemany, W. Ahrens, C. M. Healy, D. I. Conway, C. Canova, I. Holcatova, L. Richiardi, A. Znaor, A. F. Olshan, R. J. Hung, G. Liu, S. Bratman, X. Zhao, J. Holt, R. Cortez, V. Gaborieau, J. D. McKay, P. Brennan, T. Waterboer, N. Hayes, B. Diergaarde, S. Virani
Head and neck cancer (HNC) is the sixth most common cancer globally. Incidence and survival rates vary significantly across geographic regions and HNC tumor subsites. This is partly due to differences in risk factor exposure, including tobacco smoking, alcohol consumption and human papillomavirus (HPV) infection, alongside detection and treatment strategies. The VOYAGER (human papillomaVirus, Oral and oropharYngeal cAncer GEnomic Research) consortium is a collaboration between five large North American and European studies which generated data on more than 10,000 participants (7,233 cases and 3,297 controls). The primary goal of the collaboration was to improve understanding of the role of HPV and genetic factors in oral cavity and oropharyngeal cancer risk and outcome. Demographic and clinical data collected by the five studies were harmonized, and HPV status was determined for the majority of cases. In addition, almost 1,000 tumors were sequenced to characterize somatic alterations. The resulting comprehensive biomedical resource can be utilized to answer critical outstanding research questions to help improve HNC prevention, early detection, treatment, and surveillance.