RESUMO
PURPOSE: Many patients with oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinomas do not have any of the traditional risk factors associated with head and neck squamous cell cancers (HNSCC). Epidemiologic and molecular studies have identified human papillomavirus (HPV) as a causative agent, viral tumors presenting a better survival and being important risk factors together with the long established ones, tobacco and alcohol consumption, in head and neck cancers. The purpose of this study was to establish the incidence of HPV-associated HNSCCs, to identify the most frequent HPV type and to evaluate the overall survival and recurrence rates of HPV-positive cases in comparison with HPV-negative HNSCCs. METHODS: A retrospective analysis from the database of the National Institute of Oncology from Budapest was performed and the following parameters were analyzed: age, age at diagnosis, gender, primary tumor location, tumor histopathology, TNM stage, HPV status, date of recurrence, last visit and date of death. RESULTS: Out of 81 patients with HNSCCs 55 (67.9%) were male and 26 (32.1%) female. HNSCCs were more frequent in men (2.11:1) and the majority of the patients (81.7%) were diagnosed in advanced stages (TNM III and IV). HPV status was evaluated in nearly half (48.14%) of the patients and HNSCCs were positive for HPV in 43.6% of the cases. These were more frequent in patients over 50 years (76.66%), in men (76.47%) and in oropharyngeal location (94.1%). HPV-16 type was associated with malignancy in 82.35% of the cases. Disease recurrence was more frequent in HPV-negative (31.81%) vs HPV-positive cases (29.41%) and mortality rate was inferior in HPV-positive 33.33% vs negative (38.09%) tumors (p=0.52). CONCLUSIONS: In Hungary HNSCCs are more frequent in men than in women. HPV positivity is higher in men vs women and in oropharyngeal vs laryngeal location. Overall survival rate was superior in HPV-positive vs HPV-negative cases. Disease recurrence was more frequent in HPV-negative vs HPV-positive cases.