(Ivanhoe Newswire) -- Imagine having a disease that would actually be
beneficial to your survival of a certain type of skin cancer?
A recent study in Cancer Prevention Research shows the human papillomavirus,
or HPV, actually improves the survival in a form of skin cancer known as
squamous cell carcinoma of the head or neck. This, however, does not prove
well for African Americans, since they have less HPV infections than whites,
decreasing African Americans chance of survival.
In the study, 4 percent of African American patients and 34 percent of white
patients were HPV positive. According to Kevin Cullen, M.D., director of the
University of Maryland Marlene and Stewart Greenebaum Cancer Center and
professor of medicine at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, the
difference of survival was based on the person's HPV status. Survival rates
were similar among HPV-negative patients with a median survival of 26.6
months. Research showed the median overall survival was more than three
times higher for whites (70.6 months) than for African Americans (20.9
months) who were treated with chemotherapy and radiation. Survival for HPV-positive
patients could not be calculated because most were still alive.
"There is currently no consensus on why blacks fare worse with squamous cell
carcinoma of the head and neck than whites, but this is the first clue that
it may be biologic rather than related to issues of access, insurance, or
provider attitudes," Dr. Cullen was quoted as saying.
SOURCE: Journal of the American Association for Cancer Research, August 2009
