A clinical trial in head and neck cancer explored ways to improve clinical outcomes for patients. Although the trial failed, researchers found insight into new ways to address treatment resistance.

The findings could help shorten hospital stays for cancer patients.

HPV circulating tumor DNA and MRI/PET imaging markers predicted which tumors would respond to chemoradiation as early as two weeks into treatment.

The new test could signal whether treatment is working months earlier than standard imaging scans, allowing doctors to try alternatives sooner, initial results show.

But they should: A cancer found in the throat is now the leading cancer caused by HPV — and 80% of those diagnosed are men.

Vaccines and other policies could help keep in check a disease that’s becoming increasingly common worldwide.