Background/Aim. The oral cavity and oropharyngeal cancers are among the most common cancers worldwide with
the multifactorial etiology. The aim of this study was to determine the major risk factors among patients with oral cavity
and oropharyngeal tumors in Serbia. Methods. A total of 63
patients with biopsy proven malignant (33 patients) or benign
(30 patients) oral cavity or oropharyngeal lesions were included in this study. The data about gender, age, smoking habits and alcohol consumption were obtained from the routine
medical files. The detection and genotyping of human papillomavirus (HPV) was done in paraffin embedded tissue samples using in situ hybridization. Results. Malignant lesions
were more frequent in men, smokers and patients who consume alcohol with a statistically significant difference compared to the patients with benign lesions. The prevalence of
HPV infection was higher in patients with malignant lesions
compared to patients with benign lesions, but without statistically significant difference. High risk genotypes were detected
only in patients with malignant lesions of tonsils and base
tongue cancer, while low risk types were demonstrated in patients with benign lesions with a highly statistically significant
difference. Conclusion. The results point to the significant
association of tobacco smoking, alcohol consumption and
high risk HPV genotypes as risk factors for oral cavity and
oropharyngeal carcinomas in Serbian patients.
