A Contemporary Systematic Review on Repartition of HPV-Positivity in Oropharyngeal Cancer Worldwide

Abstract

Significant variation in human papillomavirus (HPV) prevalence in oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma (OPSCC) across countries ranging from 11% in Brazil to 74% in New Zealand has been reported earlier. The aim of this study was to systematically review the most recently published studies on the occurrence of HPV in OPSCC globally. PubMed and Embase were systematically searched for articles assessing the occurrence of HPV+ OPSCC published between January 2016 and May 2021. Studies with a study period including 2015 and the following years were included. Both HPV DNA and/or p16 were accepted as indicators of HPV+ OPSCC. 31 studies were enrolled comprising 49,564 patients with OPSCC (range 12–42,024 patients per study) from 26 different countries covering all continents. The lowest occurrences of HPV+ OPSCC were observed in India (0%) and Spain (10%) and the highest occurrences were observed in Lebanon (85%) and Sweden (70%). We observed great variation in HPV prevalence in OPSCC worldwide varying from 0% to 85%. The highest occurrences of HPV+ OPSCC were found in general in Northern European countries, USA, Lebanon, China, and South Korea. We observed a trend of increase in HPV-positivity, indicating a mounting burden of HPV+ OPSCC.

Emerging Oncogenic Viruses in Head and Neck Cancers from Romanian Patients

“…The fact that we did not detect any HPV-positive cases in this study was not a surprise for us, as we have already published two studies in which we did not find any HPV-positive case from 20 base of tongue cancers and tonsil cancers [43], and in a second larger study, we detected just 12.2%/189 cases HPV DNA positive, from which only 1.1% were HPV-driven (positive for HPV DNA and RNA) [44]. In a recent review published by Carlander AF et al [12], the authors mention the considerable variation in HPV prevalence: 10% in Spain [45], and 70% in Sweden [46]. The authors reviewed the studies which used double HPV/DNA and p16 algorithms testing for oropharyngeal cancers.…”

“…A total of 67 infectious agents were detected by a type-specific multiplex genotyping (TS-MPG) assay, which combines multiplex polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and beadbased assay using the Luminex ® 100/200™ system (Luminex Corp., Austin, TX, USA), as described previously [18][19][20]. Multiplex type-specific PCR uses specific primers for the detection of 19 probable/high-risk alpha-HPV types (HPV 16,18,26,31,33,35,39,45,51,52,53,56,58,59, 66, 68a, 68b, 70, 73, and 82), 2 low-risk alpha-HPV types (HPV 6, 11), 25 genus-beta HPV types (HPV 5,8,9,12,14,15,17,19,20,21,22,23,24,25,36,37,38,47,49,75,76,80,92,93, and 96) from the Papillomaviridae family, 12 polyomaviruses (JCV-John Cunningham virus, BKV, KIV-Karolinska Institute Virus, WUV-Washington University Virus, MCV-Merkel Cell Polyomavirus, HPyV6, HPyV7, TSV-Trichodysplasia Spinulosa Polyomavirus, HPyV9, HPyV10, HPyV12, SV40-Simian Virus 40) from the Polyomaviridae family, and 9 herpesviruses: HSV1 (HHV1), HSV2 (HHV2), varicella zoster virus (HHV3), EBV (HHV4) with EBV1 and EBV2 types, CMV (HHV5), human herpesvirus 6 (HHV6), human herpesvirus 7 (HHV7), HHV8 (KSHV or Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus) from the Herpesviridae family…”

“…As for HPV involvement in HNSCC, the scientific literature is abundant, and the prevalence is different for each continent, and is associated with known risk factors (smoking, alcohol). Carlander AF et al observed a considerable difference regarding HPV prevalence in HNSCC globally, with a general tendency of increasing HPV+ oropharyngeal cancers [12].…”

Special Issue “HPV in the Head and Neck Region”

“…Recently, more efforts have also been made to disclose their effects in the head and neck region. This Special Issue on "HPV in the head and neck region" includes, one editorial, eight reviews, one brief report and two systematic reviews that contribute to the overall knowledge of HPV in the head and neck region [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12].…”

“…Finally, a systematic review on the HPV-positivity in OPSCC worldwide presented variations in HPV occurrences with tendencies for the highest occurrences in Northern Europe, the USA, Lebanon, China, and South Korea [12].…”