Human Papillomavirus and cancers of head and neck: a systematic review of the literature and meta-analysis of observational studies

Introduction The increasing incidence of head and neck cancer (HNSCC)during the last decades highlights the need to better under-stand the role of HPV in the development of these cancers.The aim of this study is to conduct a systematic review of thescientific literature concerning all observational studies and ameta-analysis to discuss the existing evidence for a causalassociation between HPV infection and the HNSCC at diverseanatomical head and neck subsites and then to quantifyassociation between the presence of hpv and development headneck cancer and therefore obtain a reliable estimation of therisk infection in the its development