Global burden of oropharyngeal cancer attributable to human papillomavirus by anatomical subsite and geographic region

Yong Lu; Zongyu Xie; Ganfeng Luo; Honghong Yan; Han-Zhu Qian; Leiwen Fu; Bingyi Wang; Ruonan Huang; Fei Cao; Hongsheng Lin; Rui You; Liqiang Tan; Tao Yu; Mingyuan Chen; Chunwei Li; Xuekui Liu; Wenbin Lei; Huachun Zou

doi:10.1016/j.canep.2022.102140

Global burden of oropharyngeal cancer attributable to human papillomavirus by anatomical subsite and geographic region

Cancer Epidemiol. 2022 Jun:78:102140. doi: 10.1016/j.canep.2022.102140. Epub 2022 Mar 15.

Authors

Yong Lu¹, Zongyu Xie², Ganfeng Luo³, Honghong Yan⁴, Han-Zhu Qian⁵, Leiwen Fu³, Bingyi Wang³, Ruonan Huang⁶, Fei Cao⁴, Hongsheng Lin⁴, Rui You⁷, Liqiang Tan⁷, Tao Yu⁷, Mingyuan Chen⁷, Chunwei Li⁸, Xuekui Liu⁹, Wenbin Lei¹⁰, Huachun Zou¹¹

Affiliations

¹ School of Public Health, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China; School of Public Health, the Key Laboratory of Environmental Pollution Monitoring and Disease Control, Ministry of Education, Guizhou Medical University, Guiyang, China.
² Department of Radiology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Bengbu Medical College, Anhui, China.
³ School of Public Health (Shenzhen), Sun Yat-sen University, Shenzhen, Guangdong, China.
⁴ Department of Head and Neck Surgery, Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center, State Key Laboratory of Oncology in South China, Collaborative Innovation Center of Cancer Medicine, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China.
⁵ Yale School of Public Health, New Haven, CT, USA.
⁶ School of Public Health, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China.
⁷ Department of Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma, Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center, State Key Laboratory of Oncology in South China, Collaborative Innovation Center for Cancer Medicine, Guangdong, China; Guangdong Key Laboratory of Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma Diagnosis and Therapy, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China.
⁸ Department of Otolaryngology, The First Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China.
⁹ Department of Head and Neck Surgery, Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center, State Key Laboratory of Oncology in South China, Collaborative Innovation Center of Cancer Medicine, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China. Electronic address: liuxk@sysucc.org.cn.
¹⁰ Department of Otolaryngology, The First Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China. Electronic address: leiwb@mail.sysu.edu.cn.
¹¹ School of Public Health (Shenzhen), Sun Yat-sen University, Shenzhen, Guangdong, China; Kirby Institute, The University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, Australia. Electronic address: zouhuachun@mail.sysu.edu.cn.

PMID: 35303618
DOI: 10.1016/j.canep.2022.102140

Abstract

Background: Oropharynx is the anatomical site with the highest human papillomavirus (HPV) infection in head and neck. Many studies on HPV prevalence and p16^INK4a positivity in oropharyngeal cancer have been published in recent years. We aimed to update the global burden estimates of oropharyngeal cancer attributable to HPV with the latest data and estimate global burden of tonsillar cancer and base of tongue cancer attributable to HPV by region and country.

Methods: We calculated the number of new cancer cases using the Cancer Incidence in Five Continents Volume XI (CI5XI) and country-specific population in 2012 issued by the United Nations. Estimates of HPV prevalence and p16^INK4a positivity were obtained from literature search and pooled analyses where necessary.

Results: Globally the number of oropharyngeal cancer and tonsillar cancer attributable to HPV were 42,000 and 20,000 in 2012, corresponding to AFs of 42.7% and 52.7%. The number of cancer cases attributable to HPV among males was about 4-fold greater than that among females. For both oropharyngeal cancer and tonsillar cancer, AFs were higher in more developed countries. Among HPV positive oropharyngeal cancer cases, 86.7%, 87.8%, and 92.5% could have been prevented by bivalent (2v), quadrivalent (4v), and nonavalent (9v) HPV vaccines.

Conclusions: It is worth considering the inclusion of HPV immunization in males, especially in the regions where oropharyngeal cancer is highly prevalent.

Keywords: Cancer; Global burden; HPV; Oropharynx; Tonsil.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Alphapapillomavirus*
Cyclin-Dependent Kinase Inhibitor p16
Female
Humans
Male
Oropharyngeal Neoplasms* / epidemiology
Papillomaviridae
Papillomavirus Infections* / complications
Papillomavirus Infections* / epidemiology
Papillomavirus Infections* / prevention & control
Papillomavirus Vaccines*
Tonsillar Neoplasms*

Substances

Cyclin-Dependent Kinase Inhibitor p16
Papillomavirus Vaccines