Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Meta-Analysis
. 2014 Dec 17:14:968.
doi: 10.1186/1471-2407-14-968.

Prevalence of human papillomavirus in head and neck cancers in European populations: a meta-analysis

Seye Abogunrin  1 , Gian Luca Di Tanna, Sam Keeping, Stuart Carroll, Ike Iheanacho
Affiliations
Meta-Analysis

Prevalence of human papillomavirus in head and neck cancers in European populations: a meta-analysis

Seye Abogunrin et al. BMC Cancer. .

Abstract

Background: Infection with human papillomavirus (HPV) is necessary for the development of cervical carcinoma. By contrast, the role of HPV in the pathogenesis of other malignancies, such as head and neck cancers, is less well characterised. This study aimed to address key information gaps by conducting a systematic review and meta-analysis of the prevalence of HPV infection in head and neck cancers, focusing on data for European populations.

Methods: MEDLINE, Embase and grey literature sources were systematically searched for primary studies that were published in English between July 2002 and July 2012, and which reported on the prevalence of HPV infection in head and neck cancers in European populations. Studies on non-European populations, those not published in English, and those assessing patients co-infected with human immunodeficiency virus were excluded. Eligible studies were combined in a meta-analysis. In addition, the potential statistical association between the head and neck cancers and certain HPV types was investigated.

Results: Thirty-nine publications met the inclusion criteria. The prevalence of HPV of any type in 3,649 patients with head and neck cancers was 40.0% (95% confidence interval, 34.6% to 45.5%), and was highest in tonsillar cancer (66.4%) and lowest in pharyngeal (15.3%) and tongue (25.7%) cancers. There were no statistically significant associations between the HPV types analysed and the geographical setting, type of sample analysed or type of primer used to analyse samples in head and neck cancers.

Conclusions: The prevalence of HPV infection in European patients with head and neck cancers is high but varies between the different anatomical sites of these malignancies. There appears to be no association between HPV type and geographical setting, type of samples analysed or type of primer used to analyse samples in such cancers.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
PRISMA Diagram showing flow of literature through search and screening process.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Prevalence of HPV in cancers in various head and neck regions.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Ferlay J, Steliarova-Foucher E, Lortet-Tieulent J, Rosso S, Coebergh JW, Comber H, Forman D, Bray F. Cancer incidence and mortality patterns in Europe: estimates for 40 countries in 2012. Eur J Cancer. 2013;49(6):1374–1403. doi: 10.1016/j.ejca.2012.12.027. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Estimated incidence, mortality & prevalence for both sexes [http://eco.iarc.fr/EUCAN/Cancer.aspx?Cancer?=?1]
    1. Mehanna H, Paleri V, West C, Nutting C. Head and neck cancer–part 1: epidemiology, presentation, and prevention. Br Med J. 2010;341(7774):663–666. - PubMed
    1. Zandberg DP, Bhargava R, Badin S, Cullen KJ. The role of human papillomavirus in nongenital cancers. CA Cancer J Clin. 2013;63(1):57–81. doi: 10.3322/caac.21167. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Gillison ML, D’Souza G, Westra W, Sugar E, Xiao W, Begum S, Viscidi R. Distinct risk factor profiles for human papillomavirus type 16-positive and human papillomavirus type 16-negative head and neck cancers. J Natl Cancer Inst. 2008;100(6):407–420. doi: 10.1093/jnci/djn025. - DOI - PubMed
Pre-publication history
    1. The pre-publication history for this paper can be accessed here:http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2407/14/968/prepub

Publication types

MeSH terms