The current outlook of human papillomavirus and its association with digestive tract cancer

Abstract

Digestive tract cancers are frequent worldwide, despite efforts to control known predisposing factors, they keep increasing, this fact suggests that human papillomavirus (HPV) may play an important oncogenic role in these pathologies. In order to argue the incidence that HPV has in the genesis of gastrointestinal tract tumors and to determine if it is a possible causal agent, the scientific literature published to date on the subject was reviewed, and was found that 4.5% of all diagnosed cancers correspond to HPV; 12% are extra cervical, 20% esophagus, 31.9% colon adenomas, 43% colorectal adenocarcinoma, and 35% head and neck neoplasms (HNSCC). The types of HPV reported in the digestive tract are 6, 9, 11, 13, 16.18, 20, 24, 25, 30, 33, 51, 54, 57, DL 416, DL 428 and DL 436. Although, the studies show the HPV impact in the oncogenesis and its role as a prognostic marker in some of them, they do not have hard evidence that reveals this relationship, therefore demonstrating its integration would allow clarifying it.