Human Papilloma Virus infection in individuals with oral cavity and oropharynx cancer treated at a tertiary hospital in Salvador, state of Bahia, Brazil

Introduction: Oropharyngeal and oral cavity carcinoma (OOCC) ranks as the fifth most common cancer in men, in Brazil. Traditionally, OOCC has been linked with smoking and alcohol consumption in older individuals; however, the emergence of these cancers in younger individuals has been associated with Human Papillomavirus (HPV) infection. Despite this connection, there are currently no available data estimating the prevalence of this infection in our population. Objective: Investigate HPV infection in patients diagnosed with OOCC treated at a tertiary cancer-specialized hospital in Salvador, state of Bahia, Brazil. Methods: Retrospective, observational, descriptive study on patients diagnosed with OOCC at Hospital Aristides Maltez (HAM) from 2017 to 2020. Clinical and epidemiological data were collected from medical records and analyzed by the SPSS 22.0 software considering a statistical significance level of 5% (p<0.05) . Results: Of the 39 individuals with OOCC, 43.6% were over 60 years old, and 79.5% were male. Ten individuals (25.6%) were HPV-positive due to p16 expression. These patients were older (63.0 10) compared with HPV-negative individuals (p=0.03). The older population was associated with more advanced conditions among HPV-negative patients (r=0.397; p=0.04). The prevalence of HPV infection among OOCC patients, based on p16 expression by immunohistochemistry assay, was 25.6%. The group with HPV-positive OOCC had a higher mean age. Conclusion: Most cases of OOCC in the studied population do not seem to be associated with HPV infection. The prevalence of HPV infection in our population indicates that public policies should focus on preventing alcohol and tobacco use, fostering immunization, and providing comprehensive sex education.