Prospective Study Links HPV Detection in the Mouth to Head and Neck Cancer

In a new study, researchers have confirmed that infection with human papillomavirus (HPV) 16 precedes the development of some head and neck cancers. Previous studies have established an association between HPV-16 infection and oropharyngeal cancer, a type of head and neck cancer. The new study is the first to do so using samples collected from participants prior to their cancer diagnoses.

The study also reported, for the first time, an association between head and neck cancer risk and infection with HPV types other than HPV 16.

Ilir Agalliu, M.D., Sc.D., and Robert D. Burk, M.D., of Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York, and their colleagues reported the results of this prospective study January 21 in JAMA Oncology.

Fuente Tweet de @theNCI