Seropositivity to herpes simplex virus type 2, but not type 1 is associated with cervical cancer: NHANES (1999–2014)

BACKGROUND: Herpes simplex virus types 1 and 2 (HSV1 and HSV2) are infectious agents, and their association with cancer occurrence in human is a controversial topic for decades. We addressed this subject using all available continuous National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) cross-sectional data from 1999 to 2014. METHODS: Eight data cycles (1999–2000, 2001–2002, 2003–2004, 2005–2006, 2007–2008, 2009–2010, 2011–2012, and 2013–2014) were employed, and a sample of 8184 female participants was used in this study according to the availability of cancer history and HSV serostatus. RESULTS: The seroprevalences of HSV1 and HSV2 were 60.73 ± 0.89 and 25.02 ± 0.64, respectively, and the numbers increased with age (P < 0.01). In confounder-adjusted logistic regression analysis, association between HSV1 seropositivity and uterine cancer was identified (adjusted odds ratio-OR(adjusted) = 6.03; 95% CI: 1.52, 23.87). HSV2 seropositivity was associated with cancer occurrence (OR(adjusted) = 1.47; 95% CI: 1.01, 2.14), cervical cancer (OR(adjusted) = 1.72; 95% CI: 1.06, 2.79) and uterine cancer (OR(adjusted) = 3.49; 95% CI: 1.03, 11.85). Moreover, HSV2 was persistently associated with cervical cancer after further adjusting high-risk human papillomavirus (HPV) as confounder (OR(adjusted) = 1.90; 95% CI: 1.09, 3.34). Relative risk (RR)-based interaction measurement between HSV2 and HPV on the additive scale suggests higher RR for cervical cancer in participants with seropositivity for HPV only (RR(adjusted) = 2.98; 95% CI: 1.23, 7.20; P = 0.02), HSV2 only (RR(adjusted) = 2.79; 95% CI: 1.31, 5.96; P = 0.01) or both viruses (RR(adjusted) = 3.44; 95% CI: 1.50, 7.86; P < 0.01) when setting participants with seronegativity for both HPV and HSV2 as reference. CONCLUSIONS: The finding of current study provides epidemiological evidence that serostatus of HSV2 can serve as an independent predictor for cervical cancer. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (10.1186/s12885-017-3734-2) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.