Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma and its correlation with human papillomavirus in people living with HIV: a systematic review

// Manuela Ceccarelli 1 , Emmanuele Venanzi Rullo 1 , Alessio Facciola 1 , Giordano Madeddu 2 , Bruno Cacopardo 3 , Rosaria Taibi 4 , Francesco D’Aleo 1 , Marilia Rita Pinzone 5 , Isa Picerno 6 , Michele di Rosa 7 , Giuseppa Visalli 6 , Fabrizio Condorelli 8 , Giuseppe Nunnari 1 and Giovanni Francesco Pellicano 9 1 Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, Unit of Infectious Diseases, University of Messina, Messina, Italy 2 Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, Unit of Infectious Diseases, University of Sassari, Sassari, Italy 3 Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, Unit of Infectious Diseases, University of Catania, Catania, Italy 4 Department of Medical Oncology A, National Cancer Institute of Aviano, Aviano, Italy 5 Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA 6 Department of Biomedical and Dental Sciences and Morpho Functional Imaging, University of Messina, Messina, Italy 7 Department of Biomedical and Biotechnological Sciences, Human Anatomy and Histology Section, University of Catania, Catania, Italy 8 Department of Pharmacological Sciences, Universita del Piemonte Orientale “A. Avogadro”, Novara, Italy 9 Department of Human Pathology of The Adult and The Developmental Age “G. Barresi”, Unit of Infectious Diseases, University of Messina, Messina, Italy Correspondence to: Manuela Ceccarelli, email: manuela.ceccarelli86@gmail.com Keywords: HNSCC; HIV; head and neck cancer; HPV; papillomavirus Received: January 29, 2018      Accepted: February 27, 2018     Published: March 30, 2018 ABSTRACT Over the last 20 years we assisted to an increase in the mean age of People Living with HIV and their comorbidities. Especially, there was an increase in Human Papillomavirus-related head and neck squamous cell carcinomas. Despite their increasing incidence in HIV-positive people, mechanisms that lead to their development and progression are only partially understood. The aim of this review is to identify key data and factors about HPV-related head and neck squamous cell carcinoma in HIV-seropositive patients. Systematic search and review of the relevant literature-peer-reviewed and grey-was conducted using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analysis (PRISMA) guidelines. We included in our review only the 35 full-text articles we considered the most substantial. It is mandatory to improve our knowledge about the interactions existing between HPV and HIV, and about their actions on oral mucosa immune system.