Prevalence of oral HPV infection among healthy individuals and head and neck cancer cases in the French West Indies

Aviane Auguste (1, 2) , Stanie Gaete (3) , Cecile Herrmann-Storck (3) , Leah Michineau (1, 2) , Clarisse Joachim (4) , Jacqueline Deloumeaux (3) , Suzy Duflo (3) , Danièle Luce (1, 2)

1 Irset - Institut de recherche en santé, environnement et travail
2 UR - Université de Rennes
3 CHU Pointe-à-Pitre/Abymes [Guadeloupe]
4 CHU de la Martinique [Fort de France]

Purpose Human papillomavirus (HPV) is known to play a role in the development of head and neck squamous cell carcinomas (HNSCC) and to date, no study has reported on the association between oral HPV infection and HNSCC in the Caribbean. The objective was to determine the prevalence of oral HPV infection in the French West Indies (FWI), overall and by HPV genotype, among HNSCC cases and healthy population controls. Method We used data from a population-based case-control study conducted in the FWI. The prevalence of oral HPV was estimated separately among 100 HNSCC cases (mean age 59 years) and 308 population controls (mean age 57 years). Odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) were estimated using a logistic regression adjusting for age, sex, tobacco, and alcohol consumption, to assess the association between oral HPV infection and HNSCC. Results Prevalence of oral HPV infections was 26% in controls (30% in men and 14% in women) and 36% in HNSCC cases (36% in men, 33% in women). HPV52 was the most commonly detected genotype, in cases and in controls. The prevalence of HPV16, HPV33, and HPV51 was significantly higher in cases than in controls (p = 0.0340, p = 0.0472, and 0.0144, respectively). Oral infection with high-risk HPV was associated with an increase in risk of HNSCC (OR 1.99, 95% CI 0.95-4.15). HPV16 was only associated with oropharyngeal cancer (OR 16.01, 95% CI 1.67-153.64). Conclusion This study revealed a high prevalence of oral HPV infection in this middle-aged Afro-Caribbean population, and a specific distribution of HPV genotypes. These findings may provide insight into HNSCC etiology specific to the FWI.

Mots clés: Human papillomavirus; Oral HPV; Head and neck cancer; Saliva samples; Caribbean; France

Domaines: Santé

Aviane Auguste, Stanie Gaete, Cecile Herrmann-Storck, Leah Michineau, Clarisse Joachim, et al.. Prevalence of oral HPV infection among healthy individuals and head and neck cancer cases in the French West Indies. Cancer Causes and Control, 2017, 28 (11), pp.1333-1340. ⟨10.1007/s10552-017-0966-z⟩. ⟨hal-01659247⟩