HPV-driven oropharyngeal squamous cell cancer in Croatia — Demography and survival

Abstract

ObjectivesHead and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) is the sixth most common malignancy worldwide. Main HNSCC risk factors are tobacco, alcohol, and high-risk human papillomavirus (HPV). HPV+ oropharyngeal squamous cell cancer (OPSCC) usually have different etiology, increasing incidence and often show an improved survival when compared to HPV-negative cases. The objective of the current study was to retrospectively examine the influence of HPV on the survival of OPSCC patients in a non-Western population setting.Materials and methodsWe determined the presence of HPV DNA and/or RNA in 99 formalin-fixed paraffin embedded (FFPE) tissue samples of OPSCC patients treated between 2002 and 2015. Patients were compared based on laboratory, demographic, clinical, life style characteristics and survival.ResultsHPV RNA was found in 29.3% cases. However, groups based on HPV data (either RNA, DNA or retrospectively collected p16 staining) did not show significant differences. Overall, 5-year survival was 30% with minimal influence of the HPV positivity.ConclusionsThe HPV influence on survival of OPSCC patients is not identical between populations probably due to other factors overshadowing the HPV effect. This should be taken into account when treatment or policy decisions are made in each particular setting.

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

“…HPV-positivity according to oropharyngeal subsites was reported in 19 studies (48,250). Ten studies reported the highest HPV+ rate in palatine tonsillar squamous cell carcinoma (TSCC) ( n = 47,690) [ 4 , 19 , 20 , 21 , 28 , 32 , 33 , 34 , 35 , 36 ], and three reported the highest HPV+ rate in base of tongue squamous cell carcinoma (BTSCC) ( n = 2 51) [ 29 , 37 , 38 ].The proportion of HPV-positivity among patients with TSCC varied from 15% to 86%, among patients with BTSCC from 1% to 82%, and for other oropharyngeal locations from 1% to 100%, Table 1 .…”

DNA Methylome Distinguishes Head and Neck Cancer from Potentially Malignant Oral Lesions and Healthy Oral Mucosa

“…Furthermore, HPV is known to be more associated with oropharyngeal tumors than oral cavity cancerogenesis [ 26 ]. Another possible explanation is the particularity of the Croatian population where smoking and drinking are almost equally present in HPV positive and HPV negative OPSCC patients shown in our previous study [ 27 ]. On the other hand, the study of Lechner et al with Infinium HumanMethylation450 BeadChips (Illumina) showed unsupervised clustering over the methylation variable positions of samples in accordance with the HPV status.…”

DNA Methylome Distinguishes Oropharyngeal and Oral Cancer from Oral Lesions and Healthy Oral Mucosa

“…Furthermore, HPV is known to be more associated with oropharyngeal tumors than oral cavity cancerogenesis (37). Another possible explanation is the particularity of the Croatian population where smoking and drinking are almost equally present in HPV positive and HPV negative OPSCC patients shown in our previous study (38). On the other hand, the study of Lechner with the clinical outcome in glioblastoma multiforme patients (40).…”