Does Human Papillomavirus cause Human Lung Cancer? – Applying Bradford Hill Criteria Postulates

The role of human papillomavirus (HPV) in human lung cancer has already been extensively investigated with conflicting results. Although the researchers have attempted to establish a link between HPV and lung cancer through the statistical meta-analysis of the previous studies they failed to establish a more reliable link due to the shortcomings of the statistical meta-analysis. This study has been arranged to establish a link between HPV and lung cancer by applying the Bradford Hill criteria postulates. We identified population-wide studies relating to HPV with lung cancer through PubMed. Then we examined the available data on HPV prevalence in lung cancer, normal/benign samples, and applied the Bradford Hill criteria postulates on the available evidence to investigate the association between HPV and lung cancer. The Bradford-Hill criteria are very old, reliable, and widely accepted for establishing a link between the cause and disease. Additionally, to further enhance the reliability of our outcomes we have also evaluated the methodologies of the previous studies to address the possibility of false-negative and false-positive results. After a careful assessment of the extracted data against the postulates of Bradford Hill criteria, it was observed that previous studies do not fulfill all the major postulates of Bradford Hill criteria for causation including temporality, consistency, biological gradient, experiment, coherence, specificity, and analogy. Therefore, no causal relationship has been suggested between HPV and lung cancer. The results suggested HPV as a co-participant in the pathogenesis of lung cancer rather than a potential biomarker.