Comparative assessment of HPV, alcohol and tobacco etiological fractions in Algerian patients with laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma

Abstract Background Despite the increasing incidence of laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma (LSCC) in Algeria, scarce information is available on the importance of the preventable etiological factors which may drive the disease. Remarkably, a significant number of cases occur in nonsmoker and nondrinker patients; hence, suggesting that alternative risk factors, like Human papillomavirus (HPV), might be etiologically involved. To gain more insight on the risk factors associated with the disease in the country, we evaluated the etiological fraction of HPV in comparison to tobacco and alcohol intake in LSCC patients. Methods To evaluate the etiopathologic fraction (EF) for HPV compared to history of tobacco and alcohol in LSCC, HPV DNA presence in 46 invasive and 3 non-invasive formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded laryngeal tumors was screened using the SPF10-DEIA-LiPA25 Assay. Demographic data and information related to exposure to the risk factors were gathered through interviewer-assisted questionnaires. Results We observed that 40.8% of all LSCC cases were associated with smoking, 40.8% had combined tobacco and alcohol exposure history, and 14.3% did not show prior exposure to either risk factor. 1 out of 3 in-situ carcinoma cases was positive for HPV-6. HPV prevalence was null in the invasive tumors. HPV DNA was detected in 2.38% for all studied cases. 10.2% of LSCC patients did not associate with any of the studied risk factors. Conclusion Here we show that HPV etiological fraction in LSCC Algerian patients is low and smoking and alcohol remain the principal etiopathologic risk for LSCC burden in Algeria.