Study of Epidemiology and Human Papilloma Virus Prevalence in Oral Cavity Cancers

Abstract

Oral cavity cancers (OCC) are the most common malignancies in the subcategory of head and neck cancers, and represent the 6th most common cancer in the world. These cancers have become more frequent in individuals without a history of alcohol-tobacco abuse, which are the major risk factors. Other factors have been suggested, such as viral infections, but especially genetic alterations. This work establishes the epidemiological profile and researches the presence of viral DNA in OCCs. The epidemiology was highlighted with 105 patients using the Epi Info software. HPV DNA was sought in 50 samples of diseased tissue and blood by attempting to amplify its L1 region by PCR. At the epidemiological level, the results show a mean age of 53.2 years, a sex ratio of 0.8 and a low consumption of tobacco (16.2%) and alcohol (4.8%). HPV was not detected in any of the samples. Thus, the epidemiological profile of OCCs in Senegal is different from that in other countries, and HPV is not associated with its occurrence.