Prevalence of human papillomavirus types in head and neck cancer sub-sites in the Indian population.

Devyani Gholap,Devyani Gholap,Rajesh Dikshit,Rajesh Dikshit,Rajesh Dikshit,Sharayu Mhatre,Sharayu Mhatre,Sudhir Nair,Sudhir Nair,Massimo Tommasino,Pankaj Chaturvedi,Pankaj Chaturvedi,Tarik Gheit

doi:10.3332/ecancer.2022.1358

Abstract

Although a subset of head and neck cancers (HNC) has been associated worldwide with mucosal high-risk human papillomaviruses (HPV), information on the prevalence of HPV-positive HNC in India is limited. In this study, we examined the prevalence of 21 subtypes of HPV in sub-sites of HNC (n = 175) in the western region of India. Type-specific multiplex genotyping assay was conducted at the Centre for Cancer Epidemiology, Tata Memorial Centre, to determine the prevalence of HPV subtypes. The HPV prevalence was observed to be 28.43%, 41.67%, 38.89% and 15.79% in the oral cavity, oropharynx, hypopharynx and larynx tumour tissues, respectively. The HPV 16 genotype was most common in all HNC tumour tissues (30.29%), followed by HPV 58 (0.57%).

Highlights

Head and neck cancer (HNC) includes a heterogeneous group of tumours occurring at different anatomical sites, e.g., oral cavity (OC), oropharynx (OPC), larynx (LC) and hypopharynx cancers (HPC)
HPV16 prevalence was highest in OPC and HPC (38.89%)
HPV16/HPV58 coinfection was observed in all HNC sub-sites, most prevalent in OPC (11.11%)

Summary

Introduction

Head and neck cancer (HNC) includes a heterogeneous group of tumours occurring at different anatomical sites, e.g., oral cavity (OC), oropharynx (OPC), larynx (LC) and hypopharynx cancers (HPC). It is evident that a subset of HNC, e.g. OPC, is associated with certain mucosal high-risk (HR) HPV genotypes. HPV16 is responsible for majority of the HPV-positive HNCs, while the remaining HR HPV types appear to play a marginal role [2]. It is not yet clear whether the prevalence of HNC positive for mucosal HR HPV types other than HPV16 varies in different geographical areas. There are few studies on the Indian population that have studied the prevalence of low risk (LR) and HR HPV genotypes in all HNC subtypes using a standardised methodology. In case of multiple infections, Published: 18/02/2022 Received: 23/10/2021

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