Introduction. Human papillomavirus (HPV) has been detected with varying frequency in oral cancers and in normal oral tissues. The main objective of the present study was to examine the association between HPV infection and risk of developing oral cancer. / Methodology. This investigation, as a component of an international multi-centre study coordinated by the IARC, followed a hospital-based case-control design. Cases consisted of newly diagnosed patients with primary squamous cell carcinoma of the oral cavity, including mouth and oropharynx. Controls were frequency matched to cases by sex, age, and hospital. All subjects were interviewed to elicit detail information on known and putative risk factors. / Oral exfoliated cells were collected from all subjects for detection of HPV DNA using the PGMY09/11 PCR protocol. Antibodies against HPV 16, 18, and 31 capsids were detected in patients' plasma using an immunoassay technique. Logistic regression was used for estimation of odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) of oral cancer for HPV and other candidate risk factors. / Results. A total of 72 cases and 129 controls were recruited. HPV DNA was detected in 19% of cases (14 out of 72), and in 5% of controls (6 out of 129). Analysis for cancers related to Waldeyer's ring (palatine tonsil and base of tongue) showed that the OR of disease for detection of high risk HPV types was 19.32 (95%CI:2.3--159.5), after adjustment for socio-demographic characteristics, tobacco and alcohol consumption. The adjusted OR of disease for HPV 16 seropositivity was 31.51 (95%CI:4.5--219.7). Analysis for non tonsillar oral cancers showed that the OR for detection of high risk HPV DNA in oral cells and for seropositivity were 2.14 (95%CI:0.4--13.0) and 3.16 (95%CI:0.8--13.0), respectively. / Discussion. The results from this study provide evidence supporting a strong association between HPV infection and cancers of the oropharynx, especially those arising from Waldeyer's ring. On the other hand, the association with non tonsillar oral cancers was of much lower magnitude. The biological evidence establishing a firm etiologic link remains to be established for the latter subsites, whereas the association between HPV and Waldeyer's ring carcinomas is consistent with a causal link.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LACETR/oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:QMM.84413 |
| Date | January 2002 |
| Creators | Pintos Vega, Luis Javier |
| Contributors | Franco, Eduardo L. (advisor) |
| Publisher | McGill University |
| Source Sets | Library and Archives Canada ETDs Repository / Centre d'archives des thèses électroniques de Bibliothèque et Archives Canada |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Coverage | Doctor of Philosophy (Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics.) |
| Rights | All items in eScholarship@McGill are protected by copyright with all rights reserved unless otherwise indicated. |
| Relation | alephsysno: 001973939, proquestno: AAINQ88556, Theses scanned by UMI/ProQuest. |
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