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Is an oropharyngeal HPV infection more frequently detectable in women with a genital HPV infection?

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Abstract

Purpose

If not eliminated by the immune system and persisting over years, oropharyngeal high-risk HPV infection can lead to cancer development in the oropharynx. HPV infection is very commonly found in the genital region and can serve as an HPV reservoir. In this study, we investigate whether women with a genital HPV infection are at a higher risk of harboring an undetected oropharyngeal HPV infection via genital–oropharyngeal transmission.

Methods

Women presenting for routine gynecological checkups were included in this study. All participants received an HPV brush test from the genital region as well as from the oropharynx. Additionally, probable risk factors for an HPV infection were assessed in a structured questionnaire.

Results

142 women were included in this study. The rate of oropharyngeal HPV infection was low with 2/142 (1,4%) women positive for a low-risk HPV genotype. In the genital brush test, 54/142 (38%) women were tested HPV positive of which 41/142 (29%) were positive for a high-risk HPV genotype.

Conclusions

The rate of an oropharyngeal HPV detection in our population was low with 2/142 women harboring a low-risk HPV infection.

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Fig. 1

Data availability

The data that support the findings of this study are available on request from the corresponding author, BK. The data are not publicly available due to restrictions (containing information that could compromise the privacy of research participants).

Change history

  • 19 November 2023

    Corresponding author's email address was published incorrectly and corrected in this version.

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Funding

No funding was received for conducting this study.

Author information

Author notes

  1. Barbara Kofler and Andreas Widschwendter have shared first authorship.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Medical University of Innsbruck, Anichstrasse 35, 6020, Innsbruck, Austria

    Barbara Kofler, Benedikt Hofauer, Carina Gatt, Sophie Fabel & Jozsef Dudas

  2. Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Medical University of Innsbruck, Anichstrasse 35, 6020, Innsbruck, Austria

    Andreas Widschwendter & Alexandra Ciresa-König

  3. Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Medical University of Lübeck, Ratzeburger Allee 160, 23562, Lübeck, Germany

    Anke Leichtle

  4. Institute of Virology, Department of Hygiene, Microbiology, Social Medicine, Medical University of Innsbruck, Peter-Mayr-Strasse 4B, 6020, Innsbruck, Austria

    Wegene Borena

Authors
  1. Barbara Kofler
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  2. Andreas Widschwendter
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  3. Benedikt Hofauer
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  4. Carina Gatt
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  5. Sophie Fabel
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  6. Anke Leichtle
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  7. Alexandra Ciresa-König
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  8. Jozsef Dudas
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  9. Wegene Borena
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Barbara Kofler.

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Conflict of interest

The authors have no relevant financial or non-financial interests to disclose.

Institutional review board statement

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki Declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards. The study was approved by the ethics committee of the Medical University Innsbruck, respective reference number was 1041/2019.

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Kofler, B., Widschwendter, A., Hofauer, B. et al. Is an oropharyngeal HPV infection more frequently detectable in women with a genital HPV infection?. Eur Arch Otorhinolaryngol 281, 1041–1046 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00405-023-08314-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00405-023-08314-0

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