A high and increasing HPV prevalence in tonsillar cancers in Eastern Denmark, 2000-2010: The largest registry-based study to date

Emilie Garnaes, Katalin Kiss, Luise Andersen, Marianne H Therkildsen, Maria B Franzmann, Bettina Filtenborg-Barnkob, Estrid Hoegdall, Lene Krenk, Michael Josiassen, Christel B Lajer, Lena Specht, Kirsten Frederiksen, Lennart Friis-Hansen, Finn C Nielsen, Susanne K Kjaer, Bodil Norrild, Christian von Buchwald

85 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

The aim was to explore whether the incidence of tonsillar squamous cell carcinomas (TSCCs) increased in Eastern Denmark, 2000-2010, and whether human papillomavirus (HPV) could explain the increase, and to assess the association of HPV prevalence with gender, age, and origin (i.e., the certainty of tonsillar tumor origin). We applied HPV DNA PCR and p16 immunohistochemistry to all TSCCs registered in the Danish Head and Neck Cancer Group (DAHANCA) and in the Danish Pathology Data Bank (n = 632). Pathologists reviewed and subdivided the tumors into two groups: specified and nonspecified TSCCs. Approximately 10% of HPV-positive tumors was genotyped by amplicon next-generation sequencing. The overall crude incidence of TSCCs increased significantly (2.7% per year) and was explained by an increasing incidence of HPV-positive TSCCs (4.9% per year). The overall HPV prevalence was 58%, with HPV16 being the predominant HPV type. In multivariate analysis, the HPV prevalence was associated with age (<55 vs. >60 years) (OR, 1.72; 95% CI 1.13-2.63) and origin (nonspecified vs. specified TSCCs) (OR, 0.15; 95% CI 0.11-0.22). The association of HPV prevalence with origin increased over time in specified TSCCs (OR per year, 1.10; 95% CI 1.01-1.19), whereas no change over time was observed among nonspecified TSCCs (OR per year, 0.99; 95% CI 0.90-1.08). In conclusion, the observed increase in the number of HPV-positive TSCCs can explain the increasing number of TSCCs in Eastern Denmark, 2000-2010. HPV prevalence was associated with younger age (<55 years) and a high certainty of tonsillar tumor origin.

Original languageEnglish
JournalInternational journal of cancer. Journal international du cancer
Volume136
Issue number9
Pages (from-to)2196-203
Number of pages8
ISSN0020-7136
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 May 2015

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