HCV infection and the risk of head and neck cancer: A meta-analysis

Daniele Borsetto; Jonathan Fussey; Luca Fabris; Luigia Bandolin; Piergiorgio Gaudioso; Veronica Phillips; Jerry Polesel; Paolo Boscolo-Rizzo

doi:10.1016/j.oraloncology.2020.104869

HCV infection and the risk of head and neck cancer: A meta-analysis

Oral Oncol. 2020 Jun 26:109:104869. doi: 10.1016/j.oraloncology.2020.104869. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Daniele Borsetto¹, Jonathan Fussey², Luca Fabris³, Luigia Bandolin⁴, Piergiorgio Gaudioso⁴, Veronica Phillips⁵, Jerry Polesel⁶, Paolo Boscolo-Rizzo⁷

Affiliations

¹ Department of Otolaryngology, Guy's and St. Thomas' Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, London, United Kingdom.
² Department of Otolaryngology, Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital, Exeter, United Kingdom.
³ Department of Molecular Medicine, University of Padova, Padova, Italy; Liver Center and Section of Digestive Diseases, Department of Internal Medicine, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA.
⁴ Department of Neurosciences, Section of Otolaryngology, University of Padova, Treviso, Italy.
⁵ University of Cambridge Medical Library, Cambridge, United Kingdom.
⁶ Unit of Cancer Epidemiology, Centro di Riferimento Oncologico di Aviano (CRO) IRCCS, Aviano, Italy. Electronic address: polesel@cro.it.
⁷ Department of Neurosciences, Section of Otolaryngology, University of Padova, Treviso, Italy. Electronic address: paolo.boscolorizzo@unipd.it.

PMID: 32599500
DOI: 10.1016/j.oraloncology.2020.104869

Abstract

Recent evidence has consistently suggested a role for HCV in the etiology of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC), but the conclusions of these studies have often been limited by small sample size. Therefore, a meta-analysis was performed to summarize present evidence on the association between HCV infection and HNSCC. After screening citations from literature search, eight observational studies investigating the association between HCV and cancer(s) of either oral cavity, oropharynx, hypopharynx or larynx were included. For each cancer site, risk ratios from individual studies were displayed in forest plots; pooled risk ratios (RR) and corresponding confidence intervals (CI) were calculated. A significant association was found between HCV infection and cancers of the oral cavity (RR = 2.13; 95%: 1.61-2.83), oropharynx (RR = 1.81; 95% CI: 1.21-2.72), and larynx (RR = 2.57; 95% CI: 1.11-5.94). A similar picture emerged for hypopharyngeal cancer, though this result did not fully reach statistical significance because of the small number of available studies (RR = 2.15; 95% CI: 0.73-6.31). These findings remained similar after exclusion of patients with HIV co-infection. Our results highlighted the importance of surveillance of the upper aerodigestive tract in patients with known chronic HCV infections in order to enable HNSCC early diagnosis. In addition, they could be a reminder of the possibility of undiagnosed HCV infection to the clinicians treating HNSCC.

Keywords: Cancer risk; Head and neck cancer; Hepatitis C virus; Laryngeal cancer; Oral cancer; Oropharyngeal cancer.

Publication types

Review