Inadequate Knowledge: HPV and Oropharyngeal Carcinoma

This transcript has been edited for clarity.

Hello. I'm Dr Maurie Markman, from City of Hope. I wanted to briefly discuss a very interesting, important, but also discouraging paper and analysis. This paper was recently published online in JAMA Otolaryngology – Head & Neck Surgery on August 31, 2023. The paper is entitled, "Deciphering Knowledge and Opinions of Human Papillomavirus, Papillomavirus and Human Papillomavirus Vaccination for Facilitation of Point of Care Vaccination in Adults."

It's a long title, but basically, these investigators conducted a survey of individuals aged 18-45 years who were cared for at Boston Medical Center from September 1, 2020 to May 19, 2021. The question they asked was about the knowledge that these individuals had on the association between human papillomavirus (HPV) and oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma. They were asking, "Do you know about that association?"

Importantly, a second question was: "Are you aware that, in fact, HPV has been clearly, unequivocally documented to cause this cancer and that it is the most common cancer associated with HPV infection?"

To reiterate the questions:

Do you know about HPV vaccination?
Do you know that HPV causes oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma and that there's a very strong association?

The investigators talked to 405 patients. Interestingly, and of relevance, the baseline vaccination rate for this population, again, aged 18-45, was relatively low at 27%. Again, recognizing that many of these individuals might have been in their thirties or forties as opposed to where vaccination is obviously recommended in adolescents.

Of the group surveyed, 23% knew of the relationship at some level between this virus and oropharyngeal cancer. Only 7% of the whole population were actually aware that HPV was, in fact, not only a cause of oral cancer, but it was the most common cancer, more so than, for example, the total number of cases of cervical cancer.

Interestingly, individuals who knew of this relationship were actually the most likely to have been vaccinated, suggesting that knowledge of this particular relationship and knowledge of the benefit of vaccination will increase the likelihood that both males and females will agree to be vaccinated themselves and, very importantly, to vaccinate their children.

This is a very important paper, but obviously, it is a single paper. The total surveyed population was modest, but the level of knowledge, which I think almost certainly is likely to be true across the United States, is certainly inadequate.

This suggests that we as a medical community overall need to do a much better job in getting the information out and making sure that individuals and parents in particular are aware of the benefits of HPV vaccination because of the potential risk for cancers — cervical cancer, clearly, but also oropharyngeal cancer.

If you have an interest in this topic, I certainly encourage you to read this provocative paper in JAMA Otolaryngology – Head & Neck Surgery. I thank you for your attention.

Cite this: Inadequate Knowledge: HPV and Oropharyngeal Carcinoma - Medscape - Feb 29, 2024.

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