Human papillomavirus and cancerous diseases of the head and neck: a systematic review and meta-analysis

OBJECTIVES: The increasing incidence of head and neck cancer (HNSCC) highlights the need to better understand the role of Human papilloma virus (HPV) in the development of these cancers. The aim of this study is to conduct a systematic review and a meta-analysis concerning observational studies on the association between HPV infection and HNSCC and to quantify this association obtaining a reliable estimation of the risk infection in its development. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Literature searches was performed using PubMed and Scopus databases. StatsDirect 2.7.8 program was used for the analysis. RESULTS: We found 15 case-control studies and 63 prevalence studies, none cohort studies. The pooled Odds Ratio (OR) for all the included case-control studies resulted in a value of 1.63 (95% CI 1.27-2.09; P<0.0001). The highest pooled OR resulted from the analysis of all the studies that examined HPV 16 genotype in association oral cavity (OR 5.36; 95% IC 1.4-20). CONCLUSION: The strong evidence