Prevalence and genotype of human papillomavirus in laryngeal cancer patients

Introduction: Squamous cell cancer (^[1] SCC) of the larynx is the most common type of cancer. Human papillomavirus (^[2]HPV) is an etiological agent for head and neck cancers, especially laryngeal cancer. It is necessary to increase our knowledge about the role of HPV in the cause of laryngeal SCC, its prevalence in each geographic region, and its high-risk types in order to facilitate the development of new, specific and more targeted methods.

Objective: The present study was conducted to investigate the prevalence and genotype of human papillomavirus in laryngeal cancer patients.                                                                                                                                                                    

Materals and Methods: The current research is a cross-sectional descriptive study. Patients were included in the study by census method. Sampling from the pathology department and medical records using patient files and samples of Laryngeal cancer referred to the medical education centers of Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences. Statistical analyzes were performed with the help of SPSS26 software.

Results: The findings of this study indicate that 14.5% of patients were HPV+ and the prevalence of high-risk genomes is type 18 (30.7%), type 31 (7.6%), type 33 (23%), and type 6 (36.3%). Also, genomes 6, 18, and 33 were the most common.

Conclosion: It can be stated that the role of human papillomavirus in the etiology of precancerous lesions of the larynx and laryngeal cancer is undeniable and due to its distinct clinical behavior in terms of high-risk types in each geographical region.