Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2020 Feb;122(3):306-314.
doi: 10.1038/s41416-019-0602-7. Epub 2019 Nov 11.

Human papillomavirus as a driver of head and neck cancers

Maria Elisa Sabatini  1 , Susanna Chiocca  2
Affiliations
Review

Human papillomavirus as a driver of head and neck cancers

Maria Elisa Sabatini et al. Br J Cancer. 2020 Feb.

Abstract

The human papillomavirus (HPV) family includes more than 170 different types of virus that infect stratified epithelium. High-risk HPV is well established as the primary cause of cervical cancer, but in recent years, a clear role for this virus in other malignancies is also emerging. Indeed, HPV plays a pathogenic role in a subset of head and neck cancers-mostly cancers of the oropharynx-with distinct epidemiological, clinical and molecular characteristics compared with head and neck cancers not caused by HPV. This review summarises our current understanding of HPV in these cancers, specifically detailing HPV infection in head and neck cancers within different racial/ethnic subpopulations, and the differences in various aspects of these diseases between women and men. Finally, we provide an outlook for this disease, in terms of clinical management, and consider the issues of 'diagnostic biomarkers' and targeted therapies.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no competing interests.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Schematic representation of the head and neck region relevant for head and neck carcinomas.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. Bray F, Ferlay J, Soerjomataram I, Siegel RL, Torre LA, Jemal A. Global cancer statistics 2018: GLOBOCAN estimates of incidence and mortality worldwide for 36 cancers in 185 countries. CA Cancer J. Clin. 2018;68:394–424. doi: 10.3322/caac.21492. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Ferlay J, Soerjomataram I, Dikshit R, Eser S, Mathers C, Rebelo M, et al. Cancer incidence and mortality worldwide: sources, methods and major patterns in GLOBOCAN 2012. Int. J. Cancer. 2015;136:E359–E386. doi: 10.1002/ijc.29210. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Hashim, D., Genden, E., Posner, M., Hashibe, M. & Boffetta, P. Head and neck cancer prevention: from primary prevention to impact of clinicians on reducing burden. Ann. Oncol. 30, 744–756 (2019). - PMC - PubMed
    1. McDermott JD, Bowles DW. Epidemiology of head and neck squamous cell carcinomas: impact on staging and prevention strategies. Curr. Treat Options Oncol. 2019;20:43. doi: 10.1007/s11864-019-0650-5. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Faraji F, Eisele DW, Fakhry C. Emerging insights into recurrent and metastatic human papillomavirus-related oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma. Laryngoscope Investig. Otolaryngol. 2017;2:10–18. doi: 10.1002/lio2.37. - DOI - PMC - PubMed

Publication types

MeSH terms