Abstract
No firm evidence of HPV infection in esophageal cancer has been established to date. The aim of this meta-analysis was to investigate the prevalence of HPV 16 in esophageal cancer in China, which had a high burden of the disease. Studies on HPV infection and esophageal cancer were identified and a random-effects model was used to pool the summary prevalence and corresponding 95% confidence intervals (CIs). A total of 3,429 esophageal cancer cases were evaluated from 26 eligible studies in this meta-analysis. The summary estimate for HPV16 prevalence was 0.381 (95% CI: 0.283, 0.479). The prevalence varied by geographical areas of the study, publication year, HPV detection method and types of specimen. In sensitivity analysis, HPV 16 prevalence ranged from 0.368 (95% CI: 0.276, 0.460) to 0.397 (95% CI: 0.286, 0.508). The results indicate a relatively high level of HPV 16 prevalence in esophageal cancer among Chinese population, although there was variation between different variables. Further studies are needed to elucidate the role of HPV in esophageal carcinogenesis with careful consideration of study design and laboratory detection method, providing more accurate assessment of the HPV status in esophageal cancer.
Highlights
Esophageal cancer is the eighth most common cancer worldwide, with an estimated 456,000 new cases in 2012, and the sixth most common cause of death from cancer with an estimated 400,000 deaths (IARC, 2014)
Results of this meta-analysis showed that more than 35% of esophageal cancer cases infected with HPV 16, indicating a high level of HPV 16 infection in esophageal cancer cases of China
Our results were consistent with studies conducted in other Asian countries, which found that HPV infection rates in esophageal cancer were relatively high (Yahyapour et al, 2012; Mohiuddin et al, 2013)
Summary
Esophageal cancer is the eighth most common cancer worldwide, with an estimated 456,000 new cases in 2012, and the sixth most common cause of death from cancer with an estimated 400,000 deaths (IARC, 2014). More than 100 types of HPV have been characterized and over 40 of them have been found to infect mucosal surfaces (zur Hausen, 2000; de Villiers et al, 2004). Based on their oncogenicity, HPV are classified into high-risk and low-risk types. No firm evidence of HPV infection in esophageal cancer has been established to date The aim of this meta-analysis was to investigate the prevalence of HPV 16 in esophageal cancer in China, which had a high burden of the disease. Further studies are needed to elucidate the role of HPV in esophageal carcinogenesis with careful consideration of study design and laboratory detection method, providing more accurate assessment of the HPV status in esophageal cancer
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary 
Published Version (
Free)
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call