RESUMO
BACKGROUND: Worldwide prevalence of Oropharyngeal Squamous Cell Carcinoma (OPSCC) has increased, affecting mostly young males. OPSCC associated with Human Papillomavirus (HPV) infection exhibits particular characteristics in terms of response to treatment, hence HPV has been proposed as a prognostic factor. The impact of HPV positivity and associated biomarkers on OPSCC in the Mexican population has not been addressed. Therefore, the analysis of OPSCC prognostic markers in the Mexican population is necessary. METHODS: Retrolective study in Mexican OPSCC patients, where HPV prevalence, p16 and EGFR levels were assessed using INNO-LiPA and immunohistochemistry. RESULTS: We found an HPV prevalence of 57.6% in OPSCC cases treated at a reference center in Mexico. HPV and p16 positivity, as well as EGFR, associate with better outcomes in OPSCC patients, and they also promote reduced death risk. Notably, HPV presence and p16 positivity showed a significant association with disease-free survival (DFS), with a HR of 0.15 (p = 0.006) and a HR of 0.17 (p = 0.012), respectively, indicating a possible role as predictive biomarkers in Mexican OPSCC patients. CONCLUSIONS: Our results reflect the clinical utility of p16 analysis to improve overall survival (OS) and to predict recurrence in oropharyngeal cancer. These results position p16 and HPV as predictive biomarkers for OPSCC.
RESUMO
The incidence of human papillomavirus (HPV)-associated cancers, especially those from the head and neck region, has increased. The relatively early age of presentation of HPV-positive head and neck cancer (HNC) indicates that viral infection might be acquired early in life. Persistent HPV infection has been recognized as the main risk factor for cancer development, but most studies have focused on evaluating HPV persistence in the genital region. Thus, in this work, we aimed to evaluate the prevalence of HPV in oral cavity and oropharynx in a young population, as well as the possible persistence of the infection after 12 months. Our results indicate that almost half (46.8%) of the analyzed population harbors an HPV infection either in the oral cavity or in the oropharynx. Furthermore, after 1 year of initial identification, half of them eliminated the infection, and only one person (5.26%) exhibited persistence. Interestingly, 50% of the individuals who successfully eliminated the infection acquired a new viral type, indicating that even when the primary infection is effectively eliminated by the immune system, there is a dynamic circulation of HR-HPV types that produce reinfection. This dynamic HPV infection among young individuals could influence the future establishment of cancer in some proportion of the cases.