ArticleCancer epidemiology, biomarkers & prevention : a publication of the American Association for Cancer Research, cosponsored by the American Society of Preventive Oncology2016
Tonsillectomy and Incidence of Oropharyngeal Cancers.
Article in Cancer epidemiology, biomarkers & prevention : a publication of the American Association for Cancer Research, cosponsored by the American Society of Preventive Oncology, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 14 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
14 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 34 citations in OpenAlex.
- Association between tonsillectomy and risk of oropharyngeal cancer: a systematic review.Acta otorhinolaryngologica Italica : organo ufficiale della Societa italiana di otorinolaringologia e chirurgia cervico-facciale · 2024Pooled it
- Defining the Molecular Intricacies of Human Papillomavirus-Associated Tonsillar Carcinoma.Cancer control : journal of the Moffitt Cancer CenterPooled it
- Late posttonsillectomy haemorrhage, differences in unilateral versus bilateral tonsillectomy, a retrospective epidemiological multicentric study.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Stress-Related Disorders Among Young Individuals With Surgical Removal of Tonsils or Adenoids.JAMA network open · 2024Article
- Surgical removal of tonsils and risk of COVID-19: a nested case-control study using data from UK Biobank and AMORIS Cohort.BMC medicine · 2024Article
- Association of Human Papillomavirus Infection with Tonsillar Cancers: A Systematic Review.Indian journal of otolaryngology and head and neck surgery : official publication of the Association of Otolaryngologists of India · 2024Article
- Cancer risk following surgical removal of tonsils and adenoids - a population-based, sibling-controlled cohort study in Sweden.BMC medicine · 2023Article
- Prevalence of Human Papillomavirus and Co-Infection with Epstein-Barr Virus in Oral and Oropharyngeal Squamous Cell Carcinomas.Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention : APJCP · 2022Article
- Tonsillar swabs and sputum predict SLPI- and AnxA2 expression in tonsils: A prospective study on smoking dependent SLPI- and AnxA2-expression, and tonsillar HPV infection.Oncology letters · 2022Article
- Acupuncture Analgesia in Patients with Postoperative Neck Pain: A Protocol for Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Evidence-based complementary and alternative medicine : eCAM · 2022Review
- Clinical parameters predicting tonsillar malignancy.European archives of oto-rhino-laryngology : official journal of the European Federation of Oto-Rhino-Laryngological Societies (EUFOS) : affiliated with the German Society for Oto-Rhino-Laryngology - Head and Neck Surgery · 2020Article
- Childhood tonsillectomy alters the primary distribution of HPV-related oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma.Laryngoscope investigative otolaryngology · 2020Article
- Evaluating the proposal of paediatric virology: An interview with Professor Tina Dalianis, Professor of Tumour Virology at Karolinska Institutet.Experimental and therapeutic medicine · 2018Article
- Current Role of Surgery in the Management of Oropharyngeal Cancer.Journal of oncology practice · 2016Review
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Authors and funding
8 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundRising incidence of oropharyngeal cancers in numerous countries since the 1970s has been attributed to increased oral human papillomavirus (HPV) exposure. However, the contribution of coincidental declines in the surgical removal of the tonsils (tonsillectomy) is unknown. We quantified the association of tonsillectomy with risk of tonsillar, other oropharyngeal, and other head and neck cancers and the contribution of declines in tonsillectomies to cancer incidence trends.
methodsWe conducted a nation-wide cohort study in Sweden (1970-2009). Tonsillectomies (N = 225,718) were identified through national patient registers, which were linked with the cancer register. Cancer incidence in the tonsillectomy cohort was compared with Sweden's general population through standardized incidence ratios (SIR).
resultsTonsillectomies were associated with reduced risk of tonsil cancers [SIRs 1+ years post-tonsillectomy = 0.31; 95% confidence interval (CI), 0.08-0.79 and 5+ years post-tonsillectomy = 0.17; 95% CI, 0.02-0.62], but unrelated to other oropharyngeal or other head and neck cancers (SIRs 1+ years post-tonsillectomy = 1.61; 95% CI, 0.77-2.95 and 0.92; 95% CI, 0.64-1.27, respectively). The cumulative incidence of tonsillectomy declined significantly (40%-50%) during 1970-2009. However, tonsil cancer incidence significantly increased during 1970-2009 both without and with corrections for declines in tonsillectomies (relative risks per 5-year periods = 1.23, P < 0.001 and 1.20, P < 0.001, respectively).
conclusionsThe reduced tonsil cancer risk with tonsillectomy reflects the removal of most of the relevant tissue. The absence of associations with other head and neck cancers indicates that tonsillectomy may not impact carcinogenesis at other sites. IMPACT: The significant increases in oropharyngeal cancer incidence since the 1970s in Sweden appear independent of declines in tonsillectomies, reinforcing increased oral HPV exposure as the likely cause. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev; 25(6); 944-50. ©2016 AACR.
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