Increasing incidence rates of oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma in Germany and significance of disease burden attributed to human papillomavirus
Menée en Allemagne auprès de 730 patients traités pour un carcinome épidermoïde de l'oropharynx, cette étude analyse l'association entre le papillomavirus humain et le risque de développer la maladie puis compare ces données au niveau régional, national et international
Increasing incidences of head and neck cancers and rising proportions of these associated with human papilloma virus (HPV), especially in the oropharynx, have been reported in international studies. So far, the trends and contribution of HPV to the number of newly diagnosed cases of oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinomas (OPSCC) in Germany are uncertain. We investigated HPV association and incidence rates in a cohort of consecutively included patients with OPSCC in Giessen 2000-2017, and compared our results with regional (Giessen and the federal state of Hesse), national (Germany) and international (USA) databases. Regional data show a significant increase in the overall incidence rates of oropharyngeal cancers and in the incidence of HPV-associated cancers of the sub-sites tonsils and oropharynx, whereas other oropharyngeal sub-sites show no significant change. Analysis of national databases shows a significant incidence increase in Germany and in the USA. The rise in incidence is predominantly attributable to male patients in the US population, whereas in Germany rising OPSCC incidence is more associated with females. There is a significant elevation of OPSCC incidence rates in Germany, which corresponds to the recognized incidence increase of HPV-related oropharyngeal cancers based on experimental data from consecutively included patients of our cohort. Our investigation shows different patterns of this increase in Germany and in the USA, which demonstrates spatial heterogeneity and the need for population-based investigations regarding the role of HPV in oropharyngeal cancer.
Cancer Prevention Research , résumé, 2018