The relationship between oral squamous cell carcinoma and human papillomavirus: a meta-analysis of a Chinese population (1994-2011).

Background: Previous studies indicated that oral squamous cell carcinomas (OSCC) might be related to human papilloma virus (HPV) infection. However, up to now, there still lacks a large sample study to analyze the relationship between OSCC in a Chinese population and oral HPV infection. In the present study, we used a meta-analysis to evaluate the relationship of OSCC with HPV infection in a Chinese population.

Methods: The reports on HPV and OSCC in a Chinese population published between January, 1994, and September, 2011 were retrieved via CNKI/WANFANG/OVID/MEDLINE databases. According to the inclusion criteria, we selected 18 eligible case-control studies. After testing the heterogeneity of the studies by the Cochran Q test, the meta-analyses for HPV and HPV16 were performed using the fixed effects model.

Results: The overall positive rates of HPV and HPV16 in OSCC were 58.0% (354/610; 95% confidence interval [CI], 54.1-61.9) and 47.47% (169/356; 95% CI: 42.3-52.7), respectively; which were significantly higher than those in normal controls 10.44% (26/249; 95% CI: 7.2-14.7) and 7.1% (13/182; 95% CI: 4.2-11.8). Quantitative meta-analysis revealed that, compared with normal controls, the combined odds ratios of OSCC with HPV or HPV16 infection were 12.7 (95% CI: 8.0-20.0) and 9.0 (95% CI: 5.1-15.6), respectively. Both Begg's test and funnel plots revealed that no publication bias was found in this present study (P>0.05).

Conclusions: High incidences of HPV infection (mainly involving HPV16) were found in the samples of Chinese OSCC. For the Chinese population, HPV infection elevates the risk of OSCC tumorigenesis. Prophylactic HPV-vaccination may reduce the burden of HPV-related OSCC in China.