Association between head and neck cancer and sexually transmitted diseases: a Danish nationwide, case-control study

Abstract

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.

Chinese abstract

背景：性传播疾病（STD）与头颈癌（HNC）的发生之间据认存在着关联。

目的：确定某些性病（梅毒、淋病、HIV）和HNC之间的关联。

材料和方法：招纳1978年至2014年之间丹麦癌症登记处记录的在丹麦诊断为HNC的患者。患者与一般人群对照的年龄和性别匹配比例为1:10。使用Cox回归模型进行单因素和多因素分析, 以评估性病与HNC之间的相关性。

结果：总共包括39405名HNC患者（63％为男性； HNC诊断时为63.0岁）和393238名对照。 HNC患者中有0.27％患STD, 而对照组为0.11％。与对照组相比, 患有上呼吸道癌的患者在HNC之前的STD患病率明显更高。大多数患有性病的HNC患者（64.1％）在性病诊断后的五年内发展HNC。

结论：尽管所研究的性病很少, 但与对照组相比, 上消化道癌患者更常具有前性病诊断。该研究提出了这样的假设：性病与HNC之间存在因果关系。

Keywords:

• Epidemiology
• head and neck cancer
• incidence
• sexual transmitted disease
• cancer risk

Disclosure statement

The authors declare no potential conflicts of interest.