I read with interest the article by Obermueller et al. [1] entitled ‘Prognostic value of high-risk human papillomavirus DNA and p16INK4a immunohistochemistry in patients with anal cancer: An individual patient data meta-analysis’ published in this Journal. The authors conducted a meta-analysis of using individual data to evaluate the prognostic value of high-risk human papillomavirus (hrHPV) DNA and p16INK4a (p16) in patients with anal squamous cell carcinomas (ASCC). The adjusted hazard ratios (HRs) (95% confidence intervals [CIs]) of patients with p16+/hrHPV DNA+ and patients with p16-/hrHPV DNA+ ASCC against patients with p16-/hrHPV DNA- ASCC for overall survival (OS) were 0.26 (0.14–0.50) and 0.52 (0.33–0.83), respectively.
