Maura Gillison, who identified the role of HPV in head and neck cancer, changing the standard of care, dies at 61

Maura L. Gillison, MD, PhD, a medical oncologist and molecular epidemiologist whose work changed the standard of care for head and neck cancer by distinguishing human papillomavirus-positive from HPV-negative disease and thereby guiding diagnosis, treatment and prevention, died on June 21.

As a post-doctoral fellow at the Kimmel Cancer Center and Bloomberg School of Public Health at Hopkins, Gillison demonstrated that a subset of head and neck cancers of the pharynx, tonsils, and base of tongue was driven by HPV.

“Until her discovery, it was understood that head and neck cancer was caused by tobacco and alcohol and case reports of the presence of HPV in some tumors was attributed to laboratory contamination,” William G. Nelson, the Marion I. Knott Professor and Director of Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center, said in an announcement of Gillion’s death to the faculty. “She subsequently led a prospective case control study, at the SKCCC, which definitively demonstrated the causal role of HPV in oropharynx cancer published in 2007 in The New England Journal of Medicine.

Maura, rest in peace

, explores how a blood-based test, circulating tumor HPV DNA (ctDNA), changes before and after surgery. The study explores how tumor biology and patient factors influence ctDNA levels. The findings provide important new insight into how this ctDNA test can be used along with pathology reports to improve risk assessment and personalize treatment plans.

“We know that more than 90% of throat cancer cases are caused by HPV,” said Catherine Haring, MD, an otolaryngologist specializing in head and neck cancers and an assistant professor in the Department of Otolaryngology—Head and Neck Surgery at The Ohio State University College of Medicine. “While this type of cancer responds well to treatment, patient quality of life is impacted by radiation and chemotherapy. Improved biomarkers could help us better tailor treatment to reduce unnecessary side effects while ensuring patients receive the therapy they need.”

Full article: https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-04-biomarker-hpv-throat-cancer.html