Oral-genital HPV infection transmission, concordance of HPV genotypes and genital lesions among spouses/partners of patients diagnosed with HPV-related head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC): a scoping review

BackgroundThere is an increase in number of Human Papillomavirus related head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HPV-related HNSCC) High risk HPV(HR-HPV) types can be cleared by an infected person, however, some can persist and develop HN cancer. There is a broad knowledge gap regarding HPV and related cancers.Main textThe aim of this review is to assess existing published knowledge on oral-genital HPV transmission, concordance of HPV genotypes and risk of oral or/and genital lesions among spouses/partners of patients diagnosed with HPV-related HNSCC, identify gaps in the current research and highlight areas that requires further inquiry.MethodDatabase like Pub med, Google Scholar, Scopus, Puplon, Wiley online library were used for search strategy. Published papers on transmission, concordance of HPV genotypes and genital lesions among spouses/partners of patients diagnosed with HPV-related HNSCC were included. Papers published from January1,2000 to October 31, 2022 were included. The published papers included are 8 Case reports, 2 cross-sectional studies, 3 Cohort studies and 2 systematic reviews.ResultsA total of 2125 citations were retrieved from the five sources. 15papers were included. Case reports reported concurrent HPV-related oropharyngeal, tonsillar, unspecified HNSCC, laryngeal and nasopharyngeal carcinoma among couples. The two cross-sectional studies were done. Almost all the tumors taken from patients with HPV-related oropharyngeal carcinoma (HPV-related OPC) and their spouses were positive for identical HPV 16 type. The three cohort studies showed an increase risk of upper aero-digestive tract cancer among male spouses of females with cervical cancer. Two systematic reviews reviewed literature studies which evaluated concurrent cases of HPV-related Oropharyngeal cancers. Examination of these papers showed that the majority of the studies suggested that there is HPV transmission, concordance and risk of HNSCC cancer among spouses with HPV-related oral-genital cancer. No studies evaluated the risk of developing genital cancer in spouses of patients with HNSCC.ConclusionThe findings of this review highlighted big need of further research on oral-genital HPV infection among spouses of patients diagnosed with HPV-related HNSCC. Studies are needed to evaluate the risk of getting genital and upper aero-digestive tract HPV-related cancer among spouses with HPV-related HNC.