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

BACKGROUND: There 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 TEXT: The 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. METHOD: Database 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. RESULTS: A 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. CONCLUSION: The 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.