TY - JOUR

T1 - Association between head and neck cancer and sexually transmitted diseases

T2 - a Danish nationwide, case-control study

AU - Grønhøj, Christian

AU - Jakobsen, Kathrine Kronberg

AU - Wingstrand, Vibe Lindeblad

AU - Jensen, David

AU - Iachina, Maria

AU - Egeberg, Alexander

AU - Thyssen, Jacob P

AU - von Buchwald, Christian

PY - 2020/7

Y1 - 2020/7

N2 - Background: An association between sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) and occurrence of head and neck cancer (HNC) is proposed.Aims/objectives: We aimed to determine the association between selected STDs (syphilis, gonorrhoea, HIV) and HNC.Materials and methods: Patients diagnosed with HNC in Denmark between 1978 and 2014 identified through the Danish Cancer Registry were included. Patients were age- and sex-matched in a 1:10 ratio with general population controls. Uni- and multivariate analyses were performed using the Cox regression model to assess the correlation between STD and HNC.Results: A total of 39,405 HNC patients (63% men; 63.0 years at HNC diagnosis) and 393,238 controls were included. STD in HNC patients was 0.27%, vs. 0.11% in controls. Patients with cancer of the upper airways had a significantly higher prevalence of an STD prior to the HNC compared to controls. Most HNC patients with a prior STD (64.1%) developed the HNC within five years after the STD diagnosis.Conclusions: Although the studied STDs are rare, patients with cancer of the upper aerodigestive tract more commonly had a previous diagnosis of STD compared to controls. The study promotes the hypothesis that a causal link exists between STD and HNC.

AB - Background: An association between sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) and occurrence of head and neck cancer (HNC) is proposed.Aims/objectives: We aimed to determine the association between selected STDs (syphilis, gonorrhoea, HIV) and HNC.Materials and methods: Patients diagnosed with HNC in Denmark between 1978 and 2014 identified through the Danish Cancer Registry were included. Patients were age- and sex-matched in a 1:10 ratio with general population controls. Uni- and multivariate analyses were performed using the Cox regression model to assess the correlation between STD and HNC.Results: A total of 39,405 HNC patients (63% men; 63.0 years at HNC diagnosis) and 393,238 controls were included. STD in HNC patients was 0.27%, vs. 0.11% in controls. Patients with cancer of the upper airways had a significantly higher prevalence of an STD prior to the HNC compared to controls. Most HNC patients with a prior STD (64.1%) developed the HNC within five years after the STD diagnosis.Conclusions: Although the studied STDs are rare, patients with cancer of the upper aerodigestive tract more commonly had a previous diagnosis of STD compared to controls. The study promotes the hypothesis that a causal link exists between STD and HNC.

U2 - 10.1080/00016489.2020.1748709

DO - 10.1080/00016489.2020.1748709

M3 - Journal article

C2 - 32400244

VL - 140

SP - 608

EP - 612

JO - Acta Oto-Laryngologica

JF - Acta Oto-Laryngologica

SN - 0001-6489

IS - 7

ER -