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LYON, France: Antibodies to a high-risk type of human papillomavirus (HPV 16) could help detect oropharyngeal cancer several years before the clinical onset of the disease, the latest research has demonstrated. About 30 per cent of oropharyngeal cancers worldwide are estimated to be HPV related. The main strain of HPV associated with these cancers is HPV 16.
The study was conducted by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) in collaboration with the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) and the US National Cancer Institute.
According to the results of the study, HPV 16 E6 antibodies in the blood indicate a very high risk of developing an HPV-associated cancer of the oropharynx.
“These results are very encouraging. Up to now, it was not known whether these antibodies were present in blood before the cancer became clinically detectable. If these results are confirmed, future screening tools could be developed for early detection of the disease,” explained Dr Paul Brennan, head of the genetics section at IARC and the senior author of the study. “To date, there have been no available markers for early detection of this cancer,” he said.
In the new study, 47 (about one-third) of the 135 individuals who developed oropharyngeal cancer had HPV 16 E6 antibodies in their blood up to 12 years before the onset of disease, compared with only nine of the 1,599 individuals who did not develop the cancer (less than 1 per cent). All participants were part of the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition study, which comprises more than 500,000 individuals from ten European countries who were recruited in the 1990s and have been followed up since then.
Another significant finding of this landmark study was that patients with oropharyngeal cancer who had tested positive for HPV 16 E6 antibodies before cancer diagnosis were three times as likely to survive the five years after their diagnosis than those oropharyngeal cancer patients who had tested negative for these antibodies were.
Although HPV is better known for causing cervical cancer and other genital cancers, it is also responsible for an increasing number of cancers of the oropharynx, particularly among men.
Oropharyngeal cancer has been a relatively uncommon cancer, traditionally associated with heavy tobacco smoking and heavy alcohol consumption. However, over the past few decades, its occurrence has increased dramatically in many parts of the world, especially in Europe and North America. This increase is thought to be due to the growing number of infections with HPV and to changing sexual practices, such as an increase in oral sex.
“These exciting findings are particularly important because of the worrying increase in the numbers of this type of cancer,” said Dr Christopher Wild, Director of IARC. “The work shows how innovative laboratory tests may help us develop tools to prevent or detect cancer early, as well as improve treatment of the disease.”
The study was published online on 17 June in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.
