Molecular Signature of Human Papillomavirus in Upper Aerodigestive Tract Cancers in Congo-Brazzaville

Introduction: Carcinomas of the upper aerodigestive tract have a tropism on the epidermoid mucosa. HPV infection remains one of the risk factors for this cancer. This work aimed to study the presence of human papillomavirus (HPV) in carcinomas of the VADS.

Materials and Methods: This was a cross-sectional descriptive and analytical study with retrospective data collection over 7 years. The molecular analysis was conducted in Pointe-Noire using Xpert® HPV technology (GeneXpert, Cepheid). The variables studied were anatomopathological and virological.

Results: The overall molecular prevalence of oncogenic HPV was 28.1%. HPV-16 and HPV-18/45 were the incriminating genotypes in 88.9% and 11.4% of cases, respectively. A statistically significant association was found between co-infection with HPV-oncogenes in subjects over 40 years of age (P=0.01) and the development of these HPVs in squamous cell carcinomas (p=0.02). Notably, oncogenic HPV was found in the majority of laryngeal carcinomas.

Conclusion: In countries with limited resources, the Xpert HPV technology from GéneXpert is a reliable and rapid solution for the virological diagnosis of oncogenic HPV associated with carcinomas of the VADS. HPV-16 remains the most prevalent genotype.