Prospective seroepidemiological evidence that human papillomavirus type 16 infection is a risk factor for oesophageal squamous cell carcinoma

The genome of the major type of human papillomavirus that is associated with anogenital cancer, HPV16, is occasionally found in non-genital cancers, such as oesophageal cancer and various cancers of the head and neck,1 but it is not clear whether human papillomavirus infection is a measurable risk factor for these cancers. Since seropositivity for HPV16 capsids has documented specificity for HPV16 infection,2 serological testing can provide information on whether HPV16 infection is a risk factor for disease development. Previously we found that HPV16 capsid seropositivity was a risk factor for both cervical and anal cancers at odds ratios of 9.5 and 30.4 respectively.3 Therefore we designed a prospective study to assess whether HPV16 infection is also a risk factor for oesophageal or head and neck cancers. During 1968-72 the mobile clinic …