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A new research has revealed that people who have a particular kind of oral human papilloma virus (HPV) are on a higher risk platform to develop head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC), in addition to oropharyngeal cancer (OPC). Ilir Agalliu, MD, ScD, headed the research, which showed that if the mouthwash samples of a person are detected with HPV 16 are at 22 times higher risk for developing OPC as compared to those who do not have this virus.

A nested case-control study was carried out by researchers from Albert Einstein College of Medicine. About 96,650 people without any traces of cancer were enrolled in the study. The research was named as American Cancer Society Cancer Prevention Study II Nutrition Cohort and the Prostate, Lung, Colorectal, and Ovarian Cancer Screening Trial.

Researchers tracked the participants for around four years. During the follow-up period, the researchers detected 132 participants, consisting of 103 males and 29 females, with HNSCC.

A positive relationship was established between participants with oral HPV 16 and oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma (OR, 22.4; 95% CI, 1.8-276.7). While, HPV 16 is among the primary reasons for the development of head and neck cancers, this is the first research that has been able to evidentially conclude that oral HPV 16 is followed by oropharyngeal cancers.

“These data are remarkably consistent with risk estimates from numerous case-controls studies. However, the study by Agalliu et al contributes to the existing body of evidence by supporting a temporal association between HPV exposure and HNSCC,” said the authors.

The authors also revealed that a direct association established by Agalliu data between oral HPV detection and HNSCC risk will have significant impact of the oral HPV detection being used for OPC screening. In addition, the research showed the relation between the development of head and neck cancers and oral beta- and gamma-HPVs.