Early T1-T2 stage p16+ oropharyngeal tumours. Role of upfront transoral robotic surgery in de-escalation treatment strategies. A review of the current literature

•TORS is an interesting de-escalation strategy in selected p16+ oropharyngeal tumours.•Universal criteria to select the best candidate for TORS have to be stablished.•Universal criteria to define negative margins after TORS have to be described.•Several de-escalation adjuvant radiotherapy strategies have showed promising results.•Future investigations are needed to introduce them into the clinical practice. Human papillomavirus is responsible of approximately 70% oropharyngeal tumours and is related with more favourable outcomes. It has led to an increasing interest for de-escalation treatment strategies such as Trans Oral Robotic Surgery (TORS). A literature review was performed searching for the role of TORS as de-escalation modality of treatment in patients with p16 positive oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma (OPSCC). Special attention was paid to the potential advantage offered by TORS in reducing adjuvant radiation therapy. Six questions were formulated. 67 studies were selected. Several trials analysing the role of upfront TORS to treat early stage p16+ OPSCC and the possibility of reducing the adjuvant radiotherapy were founded. A lot of studies based on the experience of single centres show promising results. Nevertheless to date no definitive data can be extrapolated. The continued investigation of this line of de-escalation therapy with randomized prospective clinical trials is needed.