Page 15 - GP Spring 2025

4. Matsuyama Y, Isumi A, Doi S, Fujiwara T. Poor par- HPV and Oral Cancer
enting behaviours and dental caries experience in 6- To
7-year-old children. Community Dent Oral Epidemiol. Author: Christopher Bowers, MS, DMD
2020 Dec;48(6):493-500. doi: 10.1111/cdoe.12561. Epub
2020 Aug 4. PMID: 32750206; PMCID: PMC7689935. Overview:
5. Abbasoglu Z, Kuvvetli SS. Influence of maternal atti-
tudes and parenting style on children’s dental caries ex- Human papillomavirus (HPV) is the most common sexually transmitted infec-
perience. J Pak Med Assoc. 2021 Oct;71(10):2325-2329. tion in the United States, affecting nearly 80 million people, and is the top risk
1
doi: 10.47391/JPMA.01-085. PMID: 34974564. factor for oropharyngeal cancer. Unlike many sexually transmitted infections,
6. Sørensen, K., Van den Broucke, S., Fullam, J. et al. HPV spreads through skin-to-skin contact, making its transmission particular-
Health literacy and public health: A systematic review and ly pervasive. High-risk HPV strains, such as HPV 16 and HPV 18, are respon-
integration of definitions and models. BMC Public Health sible for the majority of HPV-related cancers, including approximately 70% of
12, 80 9/29/21 (2012). doi: 10.1186/1471-2458-12-80 oropharyngeal cancers. Despite advancements in prevention through vaccina-
2
7. Naidu RS, Nunn JH. Oral Health Knowledge, Attitudes
and Behaviour of and Caregivers of Preschool Children: tion and treatment innovations, the rising incidence of HPV-related cancers,
Implications for Oral Health Promotion. Oral Health Prev particularly among specific demographic groups, underscores the need for en-
Dent. 2020 Apr 1;18(1):245-252. doi: 10.3290/j.ohpd. hanced public health strategies, early detection, and education to address this
a43357. PMID: 32618448. pressing health concern.
8. Sowmya KR, Puranik MP, Aparna KS. Association be-
tween mother’s behaviour, oral health literacy and chil- Epidemiology:
dren’s oral health outcomes: A cross-sectional study. Indi- Human papillomavirus (HPV) is a significant etiological factor for oropha-
an J Dent Res. 2021 Apr-Jun;32(2):147-152. doi: 10.4103/
ijdr.IJDR_676_18. PMID: 34810380. ryngeal squamous cell carcinoma (OPSCC), a subset of head and neck can-
9. Velasco SRM, Moriyama CM, Bonecker M, Butini L, cers. The incidence of HPV-positive OPSCC has been increasing in the United
Abanto J, Antunes JLF. Relationship between oral health States over the past few decades, in contrast to the declining rates of HPV-neg-
literacy of caregivers and the oral health-related quality of ative head and neck cancers, which are primarily associated with tobacco and
life of children: a cross-sectional study. Health Qual Life alcohol use. 2
Outcomes. 2022 Jul 30;20(1):117. doi: 10.1186/s12955-
022-02019-4. PMID: 35907863; PMCID: PMC9338565. HPV-positive OPSCC is predominantly caused by HPV type 16, which is re-
10. “Ninth Global Conference on Health Promotion, sponsible for the majority of these cases. The Centers for Disease Control
Shanghai 2016.” World Health Organization, World
Health Organization, www.who.int/teams/health-pro- and Prevention (CDC) estimates that there are more than 15,000 cases of
3
motion/enhanced-wellbeing/ninth-global-conference/ HPV-positive OPSCC per year in the United States , including approximately
health-literacy. Accessed 12 Jan. 2024. 1,100 cases in New York State. 4
11. “Health Literacy.” National Institutes of Health, U.S.
Department of Health and Human Services, 7 July 2021, Non-Hispanic white males, particularly those aged 65 years and older, show
www.nih.gov/institutes-nih/nih-office-director/office- the highest incidence of oral cancer in the United States. This demographic
communications-public-liaison/clear-communication/health- has experienced a notable increase in the incidence of oropharyngeal cancer
literacy. (OPC) at a rate of 2.7% per year from 2001 to 2017, with a more pronounced
12. Chinn, C. H. 2021. New York University College of
Dentistry, NY. BEH03-DN.1511 - Health Promotion and rise of over 3% per year among non-Hispanic white men. Additionally, the in-
Disease Prevention: Addressing Current Challenges of cidence of oral tongue cancer has increased rapidly among young (<50 years)
Access to Oral Health Care. non-Hispanic white individuals over the past two decades. 5
Geographically, the Southeast and Midwest regions of the United States have
Nirja Patel is a fourth-year den- shown the most pronounced increases in OPC incidence among men, with
tal student at NYU College of rates rising more than 3.5% per year in these areas. 5
Dentistry. She will obtain her
Doctorate of Dental Surgery by Socioeconomic status also plays a role, with low socioeconomic status white
May 2025, after which she will Americans having the highest incidence of OPSCC at 2.86 per 100,000 per-
pursue a General Practice Res- sons. 6
idency at Robert Wood Johnson
University Hospital. How does HPV cause cancer?
Most HPV infections are targeted by the immune system and cleared from the
Dr. Priyanka Chokshi is a general body within 1-2 years, often without any apparent symptoms. However, some
dentist. She is currently practicing infections become chronic, including HPV 16 and HPV 18, which cause most
general dentistry in Maryland. oropharyngeal and cervical cancers. 2
She graduated from NYU College
of Dentistry in May 2024. HPV is believed to initiate cancer by invading the basal layer cells with pos-
sible integration into the host cell’s DNA. HPV causes oral cancer primarily
through the actions of its oncoproteins E6 and E7. These proteins disrupt crit-
ical tumor suppressor pathways by degrading p53 and retinoblastoma protein
Lucretia Depaola-Cefola is a (pRb), respectively, leading to uncontrolled cell proliferation and genomic in-
Clinical Assistant Professor, NYU stability. 7
Dentistry, General Dentistry &
Comprehensive. Senior Mentor Researchers are currently focused on whether having HPV alone is enough
Taylor Society - Group Practice to cause oropharyngeal cancers or if other factors (such as smoking, chew-
Director. ing tobacco, or alcohol consumption) interact with HPV to initiate dysplastic
changes.
www.nysagd.org l Spring 2025 l GP 15