Analysis of the prevalence and persistence of HPV-16 variant infection in the genital region of men.

• Grant number: 19/15717-4
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Post-Doctorate
• Effective date (Start): September 01, 2019
• Effective date (End): October 31, 2022
• Field of knowledge: Health Sciences - Collective Health - Epidemiology
• Principal Investigator: Laura Cristina Sichero Vettorazzo
• Grantee: Matthew Thomas Ferreira
• Host Institution: Instituto do Câncer do Estado de São Paulo Octavio Frias de Oliveira (ICESP). Coordenadoria de Serviços de Saúde (CSS). Secretaria da Saúde (São Paulo - Estado). São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant: 17/23211-8 - Impact of genetic variants of HPV on persistence of infection and risk of disease: an epidemiological and functional approach, AP.TEM

Abstract

Persistent infections by high-risk HPVs (human papillomavirus) are associated with the development of cervical and vulvar cancer in women, penile cancer in men, and anal and oropharyngeal tumors in both gender. Among this group, HPV-16 is worldwide the most prevalent type in cervical carcinomas, followed by HPV-18. In neoplasias of other anogenital sites and the oropharynx, HPV-16 is detected in almost all the tumors attributable to HPV. On the other hand, genital warts and the rare but serious recurrent respiratory papillomatosis (RRP) are etiologically associated with low-risk oncogenic HPVs 6 and 11 infections. Due to the importance of these four virus, since 2006 a quadrivalent prophylactic vaccine capable of preventing infection by HPVs 6, 11, 16 and 18 is available.Intra-typical nucleotide variability of some types of HPV has been studied resulting in important findings regarding their phylogeny and evolution. In addition, studies conducted by us and others revealed that specific variants of HPV-16 are associated with a higher risk of developing tumors and pre-neoplastic lesions in the cervix and anal canal of women. On the opposite, there is a gap in the knowledge concerning the impact of HPV-16 variability upon infection persistence and the development of neoplasias at the male anogenital region and the oropharynx in both sexes. Therefore, this project aims to characterize the impact of viral genetic variability upon HPV persistence and associated genital diseases in men. More specifically, we aim to: (1) determine the prevalence of HPV-16 variants in genital samples of men from Brazil, Mexico and the USA participating in the multinational prospective HIM study; (2) analyze the risk of persistent infection by the different HPV-16 variants in these individuals; (3) identify sociodemographic and behavioral variables independently associated with infection and persistence of these infections in this population. This knowledge is fundamental to better understand the biology, pathogenesis, diagnosis and clinical management of these diseases.

Scientific publications

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

FERREIRA, MATTHEW THOMAS; GONCALVES, MILENA GIULIA; LOPEZ, ROSSANA VERONICA MENDOZA; SICHERO, LAURA. enetic variants of HPV-16 and their geographical and anatomical distribution in men: A systematic review with meta-analysi. VIROLOGY, v. 558, p. 134-144, JUN 2021. (19/15717-4, 17/23211-8)