Study links periodontal disease and HPV status of head and neck cancer

Mine Tezal, DDS, PhD Of the 124 tumor samples Tezal and her team studied, 50 were positive for HPV-16 DNA and the subjects with HPV-positive tumors had a significantly higher severity of periodontitis when compared to subjects with HPV-negative tumors. According to the National Cancer Institute, there has been a steady increase in the prevalence of oropharyngeal cancers in the United States since 1973 despite the significant decline in tobacco use since 1965. Tezal notes that this increase has mainly been attributed to oral HPV infection. Understanding the natural history of the oral HPV infection and targeting factors associated not only with its acquisition but also with its persistence, says Tezal, will lead to more effective strategies, not only for prevention, but also for treatment. “While there is an effective vaccine for cervical HPV infection if given prior to the exposure of the virus (females 9-26; males 9-21), oral HPV infection can be transmitted at or any time after birth, and the target population for a vaccine to prevent oral HPV infection has not yet been defined,” said Tezal. Tezal pointed out that though many previous studies combined periodontitis and dental decay as indicators of poor oral health, dental decay was not significantly linked to tumor-HPV status in the present study. “The fact that only periodontitis was associated with tumor HPV status points to the potential association of inflammation with tumor HPV status,” she says. When Tezal and colleagues started their research about eight years ago, they were looking at the potential association between chronic inflammation and head and neck cancers, because the importance of the local oral environment for malignant tumor growth was widely accepted. However, there wasn’t research evaluating the role of local oral factors in the natural history of HNSCC, Tezal said. “The next step in this research will be intervention studies to test whether treating the sources of inflammation, such as periodontal disease, can reduce the acquisition and/or persistence of oral HPV infection and improve the prognosis of HPV-related diseases,” she said. The University at Buffalo is a premier research-intensive public university, the largest and most comprehensive campus in the State University of New York. UB's more than 28,000 students pursue their academic interests through more than 300 undergraduate, graduate, and professional degree programs. Founded in 1846, the University at Buffalo is a member of the Association of American Universities.