Papillomavirus Linked to Oropharyngeal Cancer in Young Adults

The human papillomavirus (HPV) may be to blame for the alarming increase in the incidence of young adults with oropharyngeal cancer.

The epidemiological trends have been analyzed for some head and neck cancers, including those that affect the base of tongue, tonsils, soft palate, and pharynx, among people 45 years-old and younger.


Scientists at the Henry Ford Hospital (Detroit, MI, USA) used the Surveillance Epidemiology and End Results (SEER) database to gather information about adults younger than age 45 who had been diagnosed with invasive squamous cell oropharyngeal cancer between1973 and 2009. Among the study group of more than 1,600 patients, 90% were ages 36 to 44 and the majority was Caucasian (73%).

The majority of patients underwent surgical resection for their tumors. Patients who had both surgery and radiation therapy had the highest five-year survival rate. The five-year survival for the study group was 54%. There was no difference in survival based on gender. However, African Americans had significantly poor survival compared to other races. Recent medical studies has shown that HPV exposure and infection increases the risk of oropharyngeal squamous cell cancer independently of tobacco and alcohol use, two other important risk factors for the disease, according to the US National Cancer Institute (Bethesda, MD, USA).

Farzan Siddiqui, MD, PhD, director of the Head and Neck Radiation Therapy Program in the Department of Radiation Oncology at Henry Ford Hospital, said, “The growing incidence in oropharyngeal cancer has been largely attributed to the sexual revolution of the 1960s and 1970s, which led to an increased transmission of high-risk HPV. We were interested in looking at people born during that time period and incidence of oropharyngeal cancer.”

Dr. Siddiqui added, “Not only were we surprised to find a substantial increase in young adults with cancer of the tonsils and base of tongue, but also a wide deviation among Caucasians and African Americans with this cancer. The predominance of oropharyngeal cancer in this age group suggests either nonsexual modes of HPV transfer at a younger age or a shortened latency period between infection and development of cancer.” The study was presented at the 55th Annual Meeting of the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) held September 22–25, 2013, in Atlanta (GA, USA).

Related Links:
Henry Ford Hospital
US National Cancer Institute