Oral human papillomavirus in healthy individuals: a systematic review of the literature.
BACKGROUND
Human papillomavirus type 16 (HPV16) is a common infection in the anogenital tract. HPV16 DNA detected in oral specimens has recently been identified as a risk factor for some oropharyngeal cancers. The reported prevalence of oral HPV infection from individual studies is highly variable.


METHODS
We systematically reviewed and abstracted data from published studies (n = 18) that detected oral HPV DNA in 4581 cancer-free subjects to determine the pooled prevalence (and 95% confidence intervals [CI]) of HPV16, carcinogenic HPV, and any HPV.


RESULTS
1.3% (95% CI: 1.0-1.7%) of 3977 healthy subjects had oral HPV16, 3.5% (95% CI: 3.0-4.1) of 4441 subjects had carcinogenic HPV, and 4.5% (95% CI: 3.9-5.1) of 4070 subjects were positive for any HPV. Oral HPV16 accounted for 28% of all HPV detected in the oral region. Men (47 of 1017) and women (117 of 3690) had nearly exactly the same prevalence of any oral HPV detected (4.6% vs. 4.4%, respectively).


CONCLUSIONS
HPV-16, a common anogenital infection, was rarely detected in oral specimens. However, a small but noteworthy proportion of healthy individuals have oral HPV infections with types known to cause cancer in the oral region.
Kreimer
Aimée R
AR
National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA. kreimera@mail.nih.gov
Bhatia
Rohini K
RK
Messeguer
Andrea L
AL
González
Paula
P
Herrero
Rolando
R
Giuliano
Anna R
AR
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D004279:DNA, Viral / Q000032:analysis; D005260:Female; D052162:Human papillomavirus 16 / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009055:Mouth / Q000821:virology*; D009059:Mouth Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000821:virology; D009959:Oropharyngeal Neoplasms / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000821:virology; D027383:Papillomaviridae / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D030361:Papillomavirus Infections / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000821:virology; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D015995:Prevalence; D014412:Tumor Virus Infections / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000821:virology; D055815:Young Adult
D004279:DNA, Viral