The role of human papillomavirus 16 in oral cavity and laryngeal cancers in the United States

Abstract

In addition to oropharyngeal cancers, evidence suggests that there may be an etiologic role for human papillomavirus (HPV) in some other head and neck cancers arising from the oral cavity and larynx. We estimated the burden of HPV16-attributable cancers of the oral cavity (International Classification of Diseases for Oncology, 3rd Edition, site codes C02.0-C02.3, C02.9, C03.0, C03.1, C03.9, C04.0, C04.1, C04.8, C04.9, C05.0, C05.8, C05.9, C06.0-C06.2, C06.8, C06.9) and larynx (C32.0-C32.3, C32.8, C32.9) in the United States by pooling estimates from published case studies to calculate HPV16-attributable fractions and applying the HPV16-attributable fractions to 2016-2020 US Cancer Statistics data. During 2016-2020, of an average annual number of 12612 oral cavity cancers, 3.9% (n = 497) were estimated to be attributable to HPV16. Of an average annual number of 11170 laryngeal cancers, 2.8% (n = 309) were estimated to be attributable to HPV16. This information can improve surveillance of HPV16-attributable cancers in the US population and inform our understanding of the potential impact of HPV vaccination on cancers of the oral cavity and larynx.